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Brussels Airlines

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Brussels Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
SN BEL BEE-LINE
Founded7 November 2006
Commenced operations25 March 2007
HubsBrussels Airport
Frequent-flyer programMiles & More
AllianceStar Alliance (2009)
SubsidiariesKorongo Airlines
Fleet size50 (+2 on order)
Destinations66
Parent companySN Airholding N.V./S.A.
Lufthansa (45%)
Headquartersb.house Brussels Airport
Diegem, Machelen, Belgium
Key people
  • Bernard Gustin (Co-Chief Executive Officer)
  • Michel Meyfroidt (Co-Chief Executive Officer)
  • Etienne Davignon (Chairman)
Websitewww.brusselsairlines.com

Brussels Airlines is a flag carrier airline headquartered in the b.house on the grounds of Brussels Airport and in Diegem, Machelen, Belgium and a subsidiary of Lufthansa. It is the largest airline based in Belgium, operating to over 65 destinations in 20 European countries as well as long-haul flights to East, Central and West Africa. It operates charter services, maintenance and training of cockpit and cabin crew.[1] The airline is a member of IATA and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) and Star Alliance.

History

Brussels Airlines was created following the merger of SN Brussels Airlines (SNBA) and Virgin Express. On 12 April 2005, SN Airholding, the company behind SNBA, signed an agreement with Richard Branson, giving it control over Virgin Express. On 31 March 2006 SNBA and Virgin Express announced their merger into a single company. On 7 November 2006, the new name, Brussels Airlines, was announced at a press conference at Brussels Airport. Brussels Airlines began operations on 25 March 2007.

In July 2008 it appeared that the Congolese project "AirDC" (launched together with Hewa Bora Airways) had been delayed, as the Congolese government had not given the required authorisations to start the new airline with Mauritian registered aircraft (through the Brussels Airlines owned and Mauritius based Pan African Airlines Leasing Company Ltd). [citation needed]

On 15 September 2008 it was announced that Lufthansa would acquire a 45% stake in Brussels Airlines with an option to acquire the remaining 55% from 2011. As a part of this deal Brussels Airlines would join Star Alliance, which happened on December 9, 2009.[2][3]

Avro RJ85 in SN Brussels Airlines livery landing at Birimingham International Airport, England. (2007)

On 15 June 2009 Brussels Airlines announced that the European Commission had granted approval for Lufthansa to take over Brussels Airlines. As a result of this clearance by the EU, the road was cleared for Brussels Airlines to join Star Alliance. [4]

Since 25 October 2009 Brussels Airlines has been a member of Lufthansa's frequent flyer programme Miles & More.

On 9 December 2009, Brussels Airlines became the 26th Star Alliance member during a ceremony at Brussels Town Hall.

On 15 December 2009, Brussels Airlines officially approved an extra A330. In July 2010, Brussels Airlines received this fifth leased A330.

On 15 December 2009, Brussels Airlines announced they were working on a new regional airline in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The working name of the project is "Korongo". The main base of the airline will be at Lubumbashi in Congo. The airline will be launched in 2011. Brussels Airlines has cancelled the former airDC project, due to disagreements with Hewa Bora.

On 11 August 2010, Brussels Airlines and tour operator Club Med announced a new cooperation. As from April 2011, Brussels Airlines will transport 80% of all Club Med passengers out of Brussels, both on existing regular Brussels Airlines routes as on new charter routes operated by Brussels Airlines. Brussels Airlines also announced that it will lease 2 Airbus A320 aircraft from January 2011.[5]

On 26 August 2010, the company announced its new maintenance project. The contract with Sabena Technics for the A330 and Boeing 737 ended on 1 January 2011 and Brussels Airlines will then do the maintenance on the planes. To be able to do this, the move from Building 117 to hangar 41 was necessary. Also 73 people from Sabena Technics joined the Brussels Airlines maintenance staff.

Company

b.house, Brussels Airlines head office on the grounds of Brussels Airport and in Diegem, Machelen

Brussels Airlines is the operating name of Delta Air Transport S.A./N.V., which has its registered office in Brussels.[6] The company is headquartered in the b.house (Building 26) on the grounds of Brussels Airport and in Diegem, Machelen.[7][8]

From 26 October 2008, the ICAO code was changed from DAT to BEL. On 3 June 2008, the CEO, Philippe Vander Putten resigned. The board appointed Michel Meyfroidt and Bernard Gustin as Managing Directors. Since the Star Alliance -entry in 2009, Bernard Gustin & Michel Meyfroidt carry the titles 'Co-Chief Executive Officer'.

Service

On European flights, the airline offers three types of tickets - b.flex economy+, b.light economy, and b.business (business class):

  • b.flex economy+ is the more expensive ticket, offering full service, such as free newspapers and catering.
  • b.light economy is the cheapest option, with a buy on board programme offering snacks and drinks for purchase.[9]
  • b.business is a full service Business class on the European network. It offers premium meals, VIP-parking and free champagne.

On medium- and long-haul flights (Africa and Tel Aviv) Brussels Airlines offers normal economy and business classes.

Traffic

Brussels Airlines transported 4.89 million passengers (passengers of charter flights are not included) in 2010, this is a 4.4% increase[10] compared to the 4.7 million in 2009. Brussels Airlines had 5.46 million passengers in 2008 and in the first year of operations (2007) as Brussels Airlines (after the merger between SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express), they carried 5.9 million passengers.

Frequent flyer programme

Brussels Airlines is an integrated partner of Lufthansa's frequent flyer programme called Miles & More. Miles can be earned on all the flights operated by airlines which adhere to the programme, in addition to the Star Alliance member airlines.[11] Miles can also be earned thanks to Brussels Airlines' non-airline partners.[12]

Brussels Airlines customers have been able to earn Miles and More benefits since October 25, 2009,[13] when Brussels Airlines' former frequent flyer programme, Privilege, ended and became Miles & More. There was a conversion of Privilege Gold members into Miles & More Frequent Travellers, while Privilege Platinum card holders became Miles & More Senators. Privilege miles were converted on a 1 to 1 basis.

Destinations

Brussels Airlines Avro RJ85 takes off from Birmingham International Airport, England. (2008)
Main article: Brussels Airlines destinations

On 5 July 2010, the fifth Airbus A330-300 entered into service. Brussels Airlines increased their frequency to Abidjan (up to 6 weekly) and added Accra, Cotonou, Ouagadougou and Lomé as new destinations.

Brussels Airlines is considering flying again to American destinations, they want to fly to New York JFK and also San Francisco is seen as a possibility. They have to get permission from the United States and they expect this to take 12 to 18 months.[14]

Since 10 January 2010, BMI Regional has operated from Bristol Airport and Newcastle Airport on behalf of Brussels Airlines, three times a day with an Embraer ERJ 145 to Brussels Airport and Brussels Airlines replaced its double daily flights to London Gatwick with four daily flights to London Heathrow, previously operated by BMI. Hanover is currently operated by a Bombardier Q400 of Tyrolean Airways.

Starting September 2011 Brussels Airlines is going to fly to their 21st African destination: Bamako, Mali.

Codeshare agreements

Brussels Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[15]
(*) Star Alliance members

As Brussels Airlines joined Star Alliance, some code-share agreements with non-Star Alliance partners were terminated and replaced by Star Alliance members.[16]

Fleet

OO-SSG (Airbus A319) at Brussels Airport.
OO-DWC (Avro RJ100) lands at Bristol International Airport

The Brussels Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 19 February 2011):[17][18]

Aircraft Total Orders Passengers Routes Notes
J Y Total
Airbus A319-100 2
5
1 		2 0 138
141
142 		138
141
142 		Europe, Asia, North Africa OO-SSC painted in Star Alliance livery
Airbus A320-200 2 0 0 168 168 Europe, Asia
Airbus A330-300 5 0 30 254 284 Africa
Avro RJ85 12 0 0 82 82 Europe To be phased out
Avro RJ100 12 0 0 97 97 Europe To be phased out
Boeing 737-300 4 0 0 142 142 Europe
Boeing 737-400 3
1 		0 0 164
165 		164
165 		Europe
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 1 0 0 70 70 Europe Operated by Tyrolean Airways
Embraer ERJ-145 2 0 0 49 49 Europe Operated by bmi regional
Total 50 2

Brussels Airlines took delivery of two Airbus A319 OO-SSR and OO-SSQ (coming from Mexicana) and will add another two Airbus A319 aircraft (coming from easyJet) to its fleet later in 2011.

All five Airbus A330-300 aircraft will get new seats in both classes (business and economy) during 2011. All seats will get a personal AVOD in-flight entertainment. The 3 A330 who wore the hybrid livery finally got the full Brussels Airlines livery.

At 2 May 2011, the Brussels Airlines fleet is 13.2 years old.[19]

History

Brussels Airlines previously operated 6 BAe 146-200s. These aircraft exited service in 2008, and 4 of them were up for sale. Two of them have been sold now; after they received maintenance they went to their new owners. Two other were mentioned for AirDC, but that project has been cancelled. Instead they will go to the new airline Brussels Airlines is going to start in Congo "Korongo". The two remaining are still up for sale.

During 2009, the airline tested the fuel burn reduction of the AeroTech Services B737 Wing Modification on one B737-400. After realizing favorable results, the airline modified three more B737s in May and June 2010.

On 1 and 2 February 2010, Boeing 737-400 OO-VEJ was ferried to the USA (Phoenix) to return to its lessor. On 22 February, Boeing 737-400 OO-VBR was ferried to Macau to return to the lessor.

During 2010, two Airbus A319 aircraft (OO-SSC and OO-SSD) joined Brussels Airlines' fleet. OO-SSC is Brussels Airlines first Star Alliance logo jet.

The first Airbus A320 for Brussels Airlines joined the fleet in February 2011 and made its first commercial flight on 23 April 2011. In April 2011, a second A320 was delivered. These two A320s (registered OO-SNA and OO-SNB) are the ex D-ALTC and D-ALTD of Air Berlin[citation needed].

In March 2011, Boeing 737-300 OO-LTM ended commercial service for Brussels Airlines and was painted in the colors of Brussels Airlines' new daughter company, Korongo Airlines.

Livery and call sign

The aircraft livery consists of a 'dotted B' logo on the tail, a light blue belly covering the whole aircraft's length, with the name 'Brussels Airlines' written in dark blue on the upper fuselage, preceded by the airline's 'b' logo. Most planes have an altered 'b' logo after superstitious travellers complained about the thirteen dots bringing bad luck.[20] The logo now contains fourteen dots. The Brussels Airlines call sign is BEE-LINE.

See also

References

  1. ^ Flight International 27 March 2007
  2. ^ Official press release by Lufthansa
  3. ^ Official press release by Brussels Airlines
  4. ^ [1] [dead link]
  5. ^ Template:Nl icon De Tijd: Club Med in zee met Brussels Airlines. Tijd.be (2010-10-28). Retrieved on 2010-11-06.
  6. ^ "General Conditions of Carriage". Brussels Airlines. Archived from the original on 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  7. ^ "Corp - Contact Us." Brussels Airlines. Retrieved on 23 October 2009.
  8. ^ "bedrijf.jpg." Machelen. Retrieved on 25 April 2010.
  9. ^ "b.light menu." Brussels Airlines. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
  10. ^ "Brussels Airlines carries more passengers". flandersnews.be. 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
  11. ^ [2][dead link]
  12. ^ [3] [dead link]
  13. ^ "Brussels Airlines is the newest Miles & More airline partner". Miles and More. April 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  14. ^ Citrinot, Luc. (2009-12-13) Alliance Strengthens Western Europe Region Star Alliance goes west with Brussels Airlines. eTurboNews.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-06.
  15. ^ Brussels Airlines Codeshare Agreements
  16. ^ Het Nieuwsblad - Brussels Airlines wil naar VS vliegen. Nieuwsblad.be (2009-03-24). Retrieved on 2010-11-06.
  17. ^ Brussels Airlines fleet list at ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2009-12-27.
  18. ^ Brussels Airlines Fleet Information
  19. ^ http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Brussels%20Airlines.htm
  20. ^ BBC News: 'Unlucky' airline logo grounded
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