As many as 22.2 million passengers passed through Brussels Airport in 2023. All departing passengers (half of them) also have to pass the security screening. Both in the bins at this checkpoint and elsewhere at the airport, 21,230 items were forgotten in 2023. 21% of these could be returned to the owner, the other items were not reported as lost and were not collected. Brussels Airport likes to remind passengers that they can fill in a claim and come and collect them up to six months later. A large part of the uncollected items is donated to charities.
With millions of passengers at the airport every year, things are sometimes forgotten during the journey through the airport. Baggage with a baggage label is always followed up by the airline or handling agent, and can be collected there, but any other items forgotten at the airport end up at Brussels Airport's Lost & Found team.
Every item, whether it is a key, a belt, a backpack or jewellery, is registered and kept for up to six months after the find. In 2023, 21,230 different objects were registered. These include electronics (laptops, phones and tablets), clothing (many belts) and identity cards and passports. 21% of these objects are reclaimed, that concerned mainly laptops, unlabelled hand luggage, identity cards/passports, clothing, jewellery or phones.
Brussels Airport likes to remind all passengers that they can easily report lost items on the website. The Lost & Found team is happy to reunite passengers with their lost items, which are kept for six months. Official documents are handed over to the federal police after one month, after which it is no longer possible to collect them.
Cooperation with charities Uncollected items also get a great destination. For example, all liquids, ranging from unopened drinks containers to food and care products, are donated to local PCSWs and other non-profit organisations. These are not just lost items, but also the containers of more than 100 ml that are not allowed past the security control. Brussels Airport was able to donate no less than 34,760 kilograms of these products in 2023. Only new closed products are donated, opened products will be recycled.
Electronic devices are donated to the Belgian non-profit organisation Close the Gap. This organisation's mission is to close the digital divide in the world. They ensure that abandoned electronic devices that are not collected after six months end up in educational, social and medical projects in developing countries. Clothes and prams are also donated to good causes; in 2023, clothes were donated following the earthquake in Turkey and uncollected prams went to Spullenhulp/Les Petit Riens. The remaining uncollected items, which include large quantities of trouser belts and glasses, are processed and sold through an auction house. | | About Brussels Airport Brussels Airport is one of the most important airports in Europe. In 2023, Brussels Airport welcomed 22.2 million passengers and transported 701,000 tonnes of cargo through the airport. Brussels Airport caters for the specific needs of business travellers and holidaymakers alike, on both intra-European and long haul flights. In 2024, the airport offers direct connections between Belgium and 220 destinations worldwide, with flights operated by 72 airlines.
The airport also offers a leading cargo platform, specialised in the transport of pharmaceutical products, perishable goods, e-commerce and live animals. Brussels Airport is the most important pharmaceutical hub in Europe with the largest area of temperature-controlled warehouses.
Brussels Airport is the project leader of Stargate, a programme within the European Green Deal, and works together with a consortium of 21 partner to develop by 2026 a variety of innovations and initiatives for an accelerated transition to greener aviation, focused on three major areas: the further decarbonisation of the airport operations, the improvement of the local environmental quality and the stimulation of the modal shift.
Brussels Airport is the second most important economic growth pool in Belgium, good for 24,000 direct and 40,000 indirect jobs and is operated by Brussels Airport Company. The shareholders are a consortium of private investors (75%) and the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Belgium (25%). Follow Brussels Airport on Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. | | | | |
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