New bike manager at Brussels Airport to stimulate bike usage

Brussels Airport has been focusing on sustainable travel to the airport for years and the airport is really an intermodal hub with a wide range of transport possibilities. In recent years, the bicycle has gained popularity for commuting, and that offers opportunities for the employees of Brussels Airport and the many companies located around it. In order to stimulate an even greater use of bicycles, the province of Flemish Brabant and Brussels Airport have, as part of the Stargate project, appointed a bike manager. Steven Fagard will be mapping out the bike potential at the airport and developing concrete measures and actions to give a boost to the number of cyclists.

As part of the Brussels Airport Stargate Project, a European Green Deal project with the province of Flemish Brabant as one of the partners, a bike manager will be starting today at the airport. Within the Stargate Project initiatives are being developed for a greener airport and to further develop airports into modern mobility hubs that allow travellers, employees and local residents to combine means of transport in a smart and efficient way. The new bike manager, Steven Fagard, has been staff member mobility management at the province of Flemish Brabant, and will be seconded to Brussels Airport for two years.

“Our collaboration within Stargate allows us to deploy the expertise available within the province of Flemish Brabant in a focused way at the airport. With 24,000 people employed by the various companies at Brussels Airport, the bicycle is a possible alternative for many of them, which they do might not yet know very well. By mapping the missing links and needs and by raising the necessary awareness, we want to make the bicycle a viable alternative for commuting,” says Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport.

“Since 2021, the airport is connected to the F3, the busy cycle highway between Leuven and Brussels, by the so-called S-bend.”, says Tom Dehaene, Commissioner for mobility. “The challenge is to convince a growing number of employees and travellers to use that infrastructure when travelling to and from the airport. If more people make use of the bike, that is not only good for the environment and the mobility in our region but also for the health of our population.”

“You may not immediately associate an airport with cycling, but with the two previous visits with The Bike Test we demonstrated that there is enthusiasm and potential. There are many cycle ambassadors working here who can encourage their colleagues to take the bike more frequently. As bike manager, I want to ensure that all conditions are provided to make that as pleasant and safe as possible.,” says Steven Fagard.

Brussels Airport already provides bike parking facilities with charging points for electric bicycles for both passengers and employees, and within new developments such as Brucargo Central attention is paid to cycle infrastructure and accessibility. Today, around 4% of the employees of the companies at Brussels Airport come to work by bike; the bike manager will now further map the cycling potential at the airport and propose concrete measures to improve the infrastructure and sign-posting even further, and also develop actions to stimulate the use of the bike.

This project has received subsidies within the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme of the European Union in the context of subsidy agreement GA101037053.