Brussels Airport Company

Jul 09, 2024

IT
professional services
SAP

With 22.2 million passengers and 710,000 tonnes of freight handled in 2023, Brussels Airport plays its role as a European transport hub with flying colors. To strengthen this position, the airport operator Brussels Airport Company (BAC) recently adopted SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. The integrated IT platform powers BAC’s performance across different departments, particularly finance.

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Client: Brussels Airport Company
Challenge: Reshape the software landscape to support the airport’s growth ambitions
Solution: SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition for finance, controlling, credit collection and purchasing; SAP Analytics Cloud for planning and budgeting; SAP SuccessFactors for human resources; SAP Concur for expense management; and SAP Ariba Sourcing for supplier management.

The Challenge: Supporting High-Flying Ambitions…

At Brussels Airport Company, around 1,200 people manage the airport’s complex operations, which support 60,000 direct and indirect jobs. Until recently, a series of outdated and often standalone legacy IT systems supported functions such as finance, human resources, purchasing, and project management at BAC — but they were starting to run out of steam…

“The oldest system dated back to 2008 and was end-of-life, which created a heavy maintenance burden and frustrated users,” explains Davy Vreys, CFO of BAC. “In addition, the lack of integration hindered our efficiency and visibility. Realizing that this was no longer the type of software an ambitious airport should rely on, BAC began searching for next-generation software better suited to its high-flying ambitions.”

Our corporate strategy rests on three pillars: performance improvement, diversification, and sustainability. SAP solutions are key elements of this strategy, helping us simplify processes and work more efficiently across the entire value chain.

Davy Vreys, CFO of Brussels Airport Company

The Solution: SAP S/4HANA Cloud

The airport operator quickly realized that SAP’s cloud solutions would provide the user-friendly and scalable system it was seeking. “SAP’s standardized approach would reduce maintenance work, improve efficiency, and enable the adoption of best practices,” explains Davy Vreys. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, which delivers the core functionality BAC needs for finance, controlling, billing, and procurement, was implemented.

delaware was selected to implement the platform due to its proven experience in similar projects and its integrated approach. Our experts successfully deployed the SAP S/4HANA core and seamlessly integrated other SAP solutions, including SAP SuccessFactors for human resources, SAP Concur for expense management, and SAP Ariba for supplier sourcing. The SAP Integration Suite smoothly connects the SAP stack with other software across BAC’s IT landscape.

In addition, delaware’s finance experts developed a new financial planning solution using SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC). “BAC was using a financial planning tool but wanted to benefit from integrated planning within the SAP stack,” explains Michiel De Meyere, business controlling expert at delaware. “We developed a planning solution that combines BAC’s revenue streams with operating expenses, taxes, salaries, and more into a comprehensive profit & loss statement. This integrated approach allows finance, controlling, and accounting teams to budget and forecast efficiently using data from multiple sources.”

Results: Unprecedented Efficiency

BAC now has an intuitive, efficient, and future-proof IT environment, resulting in a reduced total cost of ownership. By adopting best-practice application integration scenarios and reducing manual and paper-based work, the operator has laid a solid foundation for smooth core operational processes.

“One of the main benefits is the system’s user-friendliness,” explains Davy Vreys. “Purchase requisitions, orders, and expense approvals are now digitized and accessible on any device, including smartphones.” Within just a few months, tangible efficiency gains were already visible: “Expense reports can now be processed and paid within a week, whereas previously this took an average of two to three weeks. In addition, we can close financial months faster.”

Marie‑Christine Kévers, ERP Program Manager at BAC, adds:

“We have not only reduced the time spent processing incoming invoices, but we have also given responsibility back to the business. With goods and services received by expert teams, we improved the quality of our data and the insights derived from it. These deeper insights strengthen our agility and enable us to react quickly to market changes. Finance is no longer just number crunching — it plays a crucial role in business decision‑making.”

22.2 million

passengers in 2023

1 week

to process and pay expense reports (down from 3–4 weeks previously)

We’ve improved the quality of our data and the insights we gain from it. As a result, finance plays a more crucial role in business decision‑making, moving beyond mere number crunching.

Marie-Christine Kévers, ERP Program Manager at Brussels Airport Company

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