BRU Winter 2023-2024: news, new routes, airlines

[longwings]

For some reasons, no BRU on their list at all while here is no competition on certain routes. In LIS e.g. they have a lot of competition

Sometimes there is no competition because there is not enough demand to have competition.

JetBlue has less than 10 A321LRs and they're all based in BOS or JFK. More are coming next year, along with the first A321XLRs on order, but again all of them will be based in BOS or JFK.

JetBlue's network is a mixture of business trunk routes and (wealthy) leisure routes, BRU does not belong at the end of any of these. Even if they get kicked out of AMS, I would not assume they will automatically fall back on BRU.

[JOVAN2]

Knowing the lack of ambition from BRU,
we can in the very best case only expect CX,TG to resume their plans to come(back) to BRU.
AA has totally dropped BRU.

UA is happy with a few destinations from BRU in USA and has more places to go from AMS to US.
ANA perhaps a few flights more per week...

And SN ? Maybe a stop in an unknown place in Africa?

I continue to be unhappy about BRU.
While all surrounding airport (competitors)
fight with overcapacity and huge delays, BRU continues its years long wintersleep...

Happy New Year everybody.

[Conti764]

Knowing the lack of ambition from BRU,
we can in the very best case only expect CX,TG to resume their plans to come(back) to BRU.
AA has totally dropped BRU.

UA is happy with a few destinations from BRU in USA and has more places to go from AMS to US.
ANA perhaps a few flights more per week...

And SN ? Maybe a stop in an unknown place in Africa?

I continue to be unhappy about BRU.
While all surrounding airport (competitors)
fight with overcapacity and huge delays, BRU continues its years long wintersleep...

Happy New Year everybody.

What are you trying to imply here?

BRU is not going after new airlines? BRU is turning down prospecting clients?

You should just accept Belgium and Brussels are not the most sexy destinations for airlines, accept for government flying.

When we had a more diverse offering from BRU, it was due to a government sponsored, inflated airline going bankrupt the moment it had no government backing anymore.

BRU should consolidate on the current portfolio, fill in some gaps with potential and focus on quality over quantity.

I wouldn't want a overcrowded airport like AMS.

[ZavCity]

BRU used to have many long haul carriers at the end of the nineties(VASP/China Eastern/Cubana/US airways/American to name a few) and before that even more BUT the Big 3 (EK/QR/EY) from the Middle East with their low fares and good service took every other competition away..And there is also the fact that Belgian tourists are more keen to fly to European/North African destinations than our neighbours do..I really think BRU airport is trying to attract airlines..but....

[nordikcam]

BRU used to have many long haul carriers at the end of the nineties(VASP/China Eastern/Cubana/US airways/American to name a few) and before that even more BUT the Big 3 (EK/QR/EY) from the Middle East with their low fares and good service took every other competition away..And there is also the fact that Belgian tourists are more keen to fly to European/North African destinations than our neighbours do..I really think BRU airport is trying to attract airlines..but....

I remember Iraqui Airways / Cubana de Aviacion / Sri Lankan airlines / Air India / LAP on the way Recife Asuncion / Air Congo / Cameroon Airlines / South African Airways to say some others...but at this time Schiphol was twice as big as Brussels...today's it's three times...

[lumumba]

BRU used to have many long haul carriers at the end of the nineties(VASP/China Eastern/Cubana/US airways/American to name a few) and before that even more BUT the Big 3 (EK/QR/EY) from the Middle East with their low fares and good service took every other competition away..And there is also the fact that Belgian tourists are more keen to fly to European/North African destinations than our neighbours do..I really think BRU airport is trying to attract airlines..but....

I don't think the BIG 3 (EK/QR/EY) took away the competition because Brussel was never wel connected to Asia and that's where the BIG 3 is taking there market from, in the contrary I think they took a lot of transit passagiers from the other European big airports and brought them back here.

[lumumba]

BRU used to have many long haul carriers at the end of the nineties(VASP/China Eastern/Cubana/US airways/American to name a few) and before that even more BUT the Big 3 (EK/QR/EY) from the Middle East with their low fares and good service took every other competition away..And there is also the fact that Belgian tourists are more keen to fly to European/North African destinations than our neighbours do..I really think BRU airport is trying to attract airlines..but....

I remember Iraqui Airways / Cubana de Aviacion / Sri Lankan airlines / Air India / LAP on the way Recife Asuncion / Air Congo / Cameroon Airlines / South African Airways to say some others...but at this time Schiphol was twice as big as Brussels...today's it's three times...

In my memory it was always almost 3 times in 85 if I remember well they where 5 million passengers in BRU for 13,5 in AMS the same year...
Also the airlines you are mentioning where flying very low schedule for example Cubana was flying ever 2 weeks South African Airways once a week etc...

[DannyVDB]

BRU used to have many long haul carriers at the end of the nineties(VASP/China Eastern/Cubana/US airways/American to name a few) and before that even more BUT the Big 3 (EK/QR/EY) from the Middle East with their low fares and good service took every other competition away..And there is also the fact that Belgian tourists are more keen to fly to European/North African destinations than our neighbours do..I really think BRU airport is trying to attract airlines..but....

I remember Iraqui Airways / Cubana de Aviacion / Sri Lankan airlines / Air India / LAP on the way Recife Asuncion / Air Congo / Cameroon Airlines / South African Airways to say some others...but at this time Schiphol was twice as big as Brussels...today's it's three times...

Indeed, there were several 'exotic' airlines at several points in time (I flew myself Cubana via Canada ). I also remember Biman Airways (Bangladesh), Mahan AIr (Iran) and of course Jet Airways (India). Maybe a few more.

But as Lumumba states most of these were only a few weekly (or even less) frequencies. Moreover, they were certainly not all operating in the same period.

The exception was Jet Airways which had at a certain moment in time (almost) 6 daily frequencies to India / North America and reached - if I am not wrong - around 900.000 pax / year!

The other big difference is of course Sabena / Sobelair. They had together early 2000's 16 long haul planes (I loved the MD-11 )!

It would be interesting to search for the long haul figures over the years, I assume someone from BRU should be able to find these back, no? With the Big 3 from the ME, and other long haul I am not sure there is a big difference between now and then.

Regarding the 'ambition' (or lack of it) for now and the near future, I am not so pessimistic (but that will largely depend on how our world will evolve over the coming year(s)):
1) The already announced or rumored flights to Singapore, Shanghai (Hainan), Nairobi, Toronto, Newark (2nd daily) ...
2) If the rumors about more long haul planes for SN in the long term become true (so not only the expansion next year), that would make a big difference ...
3) The vague rumors on Thai, and maybe others to Shanghai ... and hopefully more frequencies to e.g. Tokyo, or flights becoming year round (Toronto, 2nd Washington)

I am not so convinced we will see back Cathay (Hong Kong) and Delta (Atlanta).

I still see also other destinations in the future.

BTW, I don't think BRU is in winter sleep modus. They work hard, but it is not so obvious to attract and convince airlines to make the move. It would certainly help to have more Belgians taking the long haul plane

Happy New Year!
Danny

[Atlantis]

Hi Danny,

If you want to have a very good source to compare year by year which Airlines flew to BRU, which destinations we had and how much pax per destination, I can recommend you the yearly BRUtrends. This is the very detailed pdf info which was made public till 2018 I think.

I wish you all a happy new year

[ZavCity]

BRU was once very well connected to Asia with Malaysia Airlines (DC10/747) Garuda(747/DC10)Air Lanka (L1011) Singapore (747) and of course Thai and China Eastern(A340/MD11)..Same for Africa(Cameroon airlines, Air Mauritius,SAA, and several Congolese,Air Zimbabwe too, allthough think the latter not flying for themselves..Happy new year all of you and all the luck to our airport and the people working for it!
paul

[JOVAN2]

If I were BRU and wanted to attract more l/h airlines i would!
Heavily modernize Pier B arrival
Make the passport control faster and more efficient
Baggage delivery faster and more efficient

This are a few things airlines and their PAX want.

BRU puts too much money in fancy offices and parkings for own managers and personnel

[Atlantis]

If I were BRU and wanted to attract more l/h airlines i would!
Heavily modernize Pier B arrival
Make the passport control faster and more efficient
Baggage delivery faster and more efficient

This are a few things airlines and their PAX want.

BRU puts too much money in fancy offices and parkings for own managers and personnel

Which shows very well after many years that you still don't know how an airports works. You still think that you can do this on your own, well if you can do it like you said, the first day will be also your last one.

Attracting long haul is the biggest part the job of diplomats, embassies and the federal governments, the airport has a smaller part in it.

But yeah, this we still have to remind you for the next coming years.

[Conti764]

If I were BRU and wanted to attract more l/h airlines i would!
Heavily modernize Pier B arrival
Make the passport control faster and more efficient
Baggage delivery faster and more efficient

This are a few things airlines and their PAX want.

BRU puts too much money in fancy offices and parkings for own managers and personnel

I'd go for A-pier West, but then as a top notch international terminal with seperate access for high paying C-class passengers, directly from the lounges to the plane and priority for Star Alliance, include an airside hotel if possible, maybe use the ground level of the connector to have an enrertainment area?

It's difficult to bring pier B to today's standards, at least at arrivals. And it's just some corridor people just want to get out as fast as possible, to either catch a transfer or go home/to their hotel/...

Making the passport control faster and more efficient depends on staffing issues with the federal police.

[Atlantis]

If I were BRU and wanted to attract more l/h airlines i would!
Heavily modernize Pier B arrival
Make the passport control faster and more efficient
Baggage delivery faster and more efficient

This are a few things airlines and their PAX want.

BRU puts too much money in fancy offices and parkings for own managers and personnel

I'd go for A-pier West, but then as a top notch international terminal with seperate access for high paying C-class passengers, directly from the lounges to the plane and priority for Star Alliance, include an airside hotel if possible, maybe use the ground level of the connector to have an enrertainment area?

It's difficult to bring pier B to today's standards, at least at arrivals. And it's just some corridor people just want to get out as fast as possible, to either catch a transfer or go home/to their hotel/...

Making the passport control faster and more efficient depends on staffing issues with the federal police.

Exactly, A-Pier West is more crucial but for the moment that project is in the fridge as the demand is not high enough. We are now 4 million pax under the record of 2019. There is no way that the shareholders will approve this. Plus next year will be elections, there is nobody interested to pick up the story of the airport. The new environmental permit has to be renewed next year too, etc. A lot of more urgent things to do.
What will be with the current wars? What will be next? Nobody know but at lot is uncertain.

But as the plans are like they are now, the new build hotel will have the direct connection with the extension of the terminal.

Second, on the moment that the A-Pier West will be effectively there, you can start to renovate the B-Pier bcs UA, SQ, TG, NH will move from the B-Pier to A-Pier West. That's a huge capacity who will move.
Also don't forget that as from March next year, all flights from/to Romenia and Bulgaria will also move from the B-Pier to the A-Pier as they will be part of Schengen.

[lumumba]

BRU was once very well connected to Asia with Malaysia Airlines (DC10/747) Garuda(747/DC10)Air Lanka (L1011) Singapore (747) and of course Thai and China Eastern(A340/MD11)..Same for Africa(Cameroon airlines, Air Mauritius,SAA, and several Congolese,Air Zimbabwe too, allthough think the latter not flying for themselves..Happy new year all of you and all the luck to our airport and the people working for it!
paul

All these airlines where in différente time frame also with very low schedule sure they was better years like when Singapore was flying Singapore New York true Brussels but it didn't last long anyway when the big 3 arrived non of the airlines your are mentioning where flying into Brussels then
Today the big 3 offers between 4 to 5 flights a day with good connections to Asia this was never the case before.

[JOVAN2]

A Pier West, like any other plan for improvement or expansion will not happen within the next 10 years.
BRU is indeed condemned to an eternal-looking status-quo.
It would be recommendable to improve P
B-Pier arrivals.
The dead boring corridor, the long queues at immigration, the longlong waiting at baggage-belts. ...
Then also the awful looking arrival hall with the
Unbelievable taxi area.
The bus area is also a pitiful place...

But the BRU-managers probably never see this places. Have they visited other airports ?

If BRU is so much more behind 2019 figures than other EU.airports, there must be different reasons.
B-Pier is empty.many hours per day, after the
Morning rush. Lets hope they do something sbout it.

[Conti764]

A Pier West, like any other plan for improvement or expansion will not happen within the next 10 years.
BRU is indeed condemned to an eternal-looking status-quo.
It would be recommendable to improve P
B-Pier arrivals.
The dead boring corridor, the long queues at immigration, the longlong waiting at baggage-belts. ...
Then also the awful looking arrival hall with the
Unbelievable taxi area.
The bus area is also a pitiful place...

But the BRU-managers probably never see this places. Have they visited other airports ?

If BRU is so much more behind 2019 figures than other EU.airports, there must be different reasons.
B-Pier is empty.many hours per day, after the
Morning rush. Lets hope they do something sbout it.

How exactly would you upgrade that 'dead boring corridor'? What would you ad to the customer experience? Behind those boring walls are the slopes from departure level to jetway, so not much space available. You might ad natural dayligt by replacing walls with glass, but that's about it. And let's not forget that the only goal from that corridor is to move arriving pax as quickly as possible from their plane to the arrivals hall, going home/to their hotel/... or to their next flight. The function of arrivals is entirely different from departures.

The arrivals hall already had an upgrade and again, it serves an entirely different goal then departures. People wait here for arriving pax who subsequently can't get away fast enough to rest after a (generaly from the B-pier) long flight. When I arrive at an airport I don't tend to hang around long. Arrivals should be functional, not entertaining. And that's what the arrivals at BRU are.

Only valid point: the dreadful bus station, in dire need of an upgrade. But give them some time as more projects are planned at or around the bus level (new terminal, tramstation,...)

I am looking forward to the renovation and expansion of the terminal. Apparently a lot of issues will be taken care of with the project.

[DannyVDB]

Hi guys,story saver
While we lack precise information on this matter, it is confirmed that they are set to receive nine A350s by the initial quarter of 2024. This acquisition is poised to substantially enhance their capacity, particularly on routes to Europe.

Not sure what you are talking about

[sn26567]

Hi guys,story saver
While we lack precise information on this matter, it is confirmed that they are set to receive nine A350s by the initial quarter of 2024. This acquisition is poised to substantially enhance their capacity, particularly on routes to Europe.

Not sure what you are talking about

This seems to be a spam, which I'll delete right away.

[Atlantis]

Croatia Airlines will reduce the number of flights, during February, from Zagreb to Brussels from 11 to 8 weekly.

The same for other European destinations where they will decrease the number of flights