Brussels Airlines in 2018

[Poiu]

Brussels Airlines January 2018 traffic figures, a growth of 15% compared to January 2017.

To have an accurate figure, you should add TCAB passengers for 2017 before calculating. I would estimate the real growth to be around 5%.

[travellover]

In december SN said he had transported to Asia, so Bombay, 10,338 passengers. There were 6 flights / week. No flight on Tuesday, so no flight on December 5,12,19 and 26. 27 flights, 54 return trips. That's 191.44 passengers / flight. Unable to tell if it's good or not but it's more than 90.

Nice growth again except for N/A.
BOM market shows indeed an hopeful increase with 10,142 passengers for 52 inbound and outbound flights in january. That's 195,03 passengers a flight.
Onboard the A332, Brussels Airlines has a seat configuration of 272 passengers in two-class.
If the C class 22 flat bed seats are confirmed to be always and almost busy, the occupation rate of the Y class remaining seats must be around 70% for january. Not profitable YET says Thorsten Dirks. What needs to be improved ?

[Jetter]

Interesting article in De Tijd today: the PM is 'putting some pressure' at LH to preserve Brussels Airlines and its short and long haul flights out of BRU. He will have a meeting with the CEO of LH, EW and SN in the coming days.

The article states that he is not powerless: he has the time slots at BRU and the negotiated flying rights to Africa, India as usable 'arguments'.

Full article (Dutch): https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/luchtvaa ... 80707.html

The PM is wrong. Slot allocations are governed by EU law and must be dealt with neutrally. What pressure he can put on LH with the flying rights is impossible to see. Must be something like "You have to keep flying longhaul or we'll take away your longhaul traffic rights"

[Passenger]

Interesting article in De Tijd today: the PM is 'putting some pressure' at LH to preserve Brussels Airlines and its short and long haul flights out of BRU. He will have a meeting with the CEO of LH, EW and SN in the coming days.

The article states that he is not powerless: he has the time slots at BRU and the negotiated flying rights to Africa, India as usable 'arguments'.

Full article (Dutch): https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/luchtvaa ... 80707.html

The PM is wrong. Slot allocations are governed by EU law and must be dealt with neutrally. What pressure he can put on LH with the flying rights is impossible to see. Must be something like "You have to keep flying longhaul or we'll take away your longhaul traffic rights".

I'm not impressed by that news article. Actually, De Tijd hasn't even spoken to the PM. "Dat vernam De Tijd uit verschillende bronnen". Translated: "we heared this from different sources". Just like last week, when they also heared from different sources that all long haul flights would move to DUS and FRA...

[sn26567]

Rebranding or not?

no

Should be understood as "Not in 2018". Nothing more!

[convair]

In december SN said he had transported to Asia, so Bombay, 10,338 passengers. There were 6 flights / week. No flight on Tuesday, so no flight on December 5,12,19 and 26. 27 flights, 54 return trips. That's 191.44 passengers / flight. Unable to tell if it's good or not but it's more than 90.

Nice growth again except for N/A.
BOM market shows indeed an hopeful increase with 10,142 passengers for 52 inbound and outbound flights in january. That's 195,03 passengers a flight.
Onboard the A332, Brussels Airlines has a seat configuration of 272 passengers in two-class.
If the C class 22 flat bed seats are confirmed to be always and almost busy, the occupation rate of the Y class remaining seats must be around 70% for january. Not profitable YET says Thorsten Dirks. What needs to be improved ?

Yes, BOM trafic numbers are very encouraging, as they don't seem to decrease (so far) during the winter season. Maybe also due to the fact that the existence of the flight is now better known.

[Passenger]

Information that I (and other people) received, direct through mail, from someone external to SN/LH/EW who has discussed "Eurowings" with Christina Foerster and Frédéric Dechamps (VP Sales):

"...Brussels Airlines blijft een Belgische entiteit en België’s home carrier...Brussels Airlines blijft haar vluchten uitvoeren zoals gepland: Europa, Afrika, US, Canada en India... Er blijft een (nieuw) top management behouden in Brussel... Lange afstandsvluchten blijven in Brussel en verhuizen niet naar Dusseldorf of Keulen..."

Translated: Brussels Airlines remains a Belgian enity and Belgium's home carrier... No change to planned flights... The new management at Brussels will remain here... Long haul will not move to DUS or CGN...

(edited: I have added "external to SN/LH/EW")

[DeltaWiskey]

Very good summary and analysis, DeltaWiskey !

Thanks, I am glad you liked it.

I have to say that I was a bit puzzled last week when the rumours of the management change leaked in the press. Although it was not unexpected. Now that all dust starts to settle and more information has been spread, I am confident that the future looks bright for Brussels Airlines. Even if it's not going to be with that name forever.

With the discussion about the brand "Brussels Airlines" on this board, I started think about it for a moment. I am not convinced that Brussels Airlines really is the best name for the airline in its present form. When I ask friends, family, colleagues: who are you going to fly with? They say, "SN Brussels Airlines", "Brussels", "SN", sometimes even "Brussels Airlines".
Brussels Airlines is a long name and people shorten it very often. This means to me, that it is not the strongest brand possible. With other airlines, they just say "Ryanair", "KLM", "Easyjet", etc. They don't say a variation like "FR" or "Ryan". Ok, an very odd person might say "Easy", but really not that many.

There will be a time, eventually, in maybe 5, 10 or 20 years time, when the Eurowings has become so big and has bases all across Europe, that it would be stupid for Brussels Airlines not wanting to be associated with that brand.

[RoMax]

Brussels Airlines January 2018 traffic figures, a growth of 15% compared to January 2017.

To have an accurate figure, you should add TCAB passengers for 2017 before calculating. I would estimate the real growth to be around 5%.

You might not have access to the detailed data so not blaming for not being 100% accurate, but seriously? I don't know what you expect from TC in a winter month like January, but you are highly overestimating it. When excluding the so-called TC routes (so including e.g. TFS and LPA even though these were already served before the take-over) growth in January was still (slightly) above 10%! About 80% of the traffic from TC is flying in the summer season, so it'll be then when you see the real impact. Currently the only major markets are Egypt, Cabo Verde, Morocco, Tunisia and Canary Islands with only TFS being a really frequent service.
No need to implicate SN is almost only growing on ex-TC routes and not caring about the rest anymore.

[convair]

With the discussion about the brand "Brussels Airlines" on this board, I started think about it for a moment. I am not convinced that Brussels Airlines really is the best name for the airline in its present form. When I ask friends, family, colleagues: who are you going to fly with? They say, "SN Brussels Airlines", "Brussels", "SN", sometimes even "Brussels Airlines".
Brussels Airlines is a long name and people shorten it very often. This means to me, that it is not the strongest brand possible. With other airlines, they just say "Ryanair", "KLM", "Easyjet", etc. They don't say a variation like "FR" or "Ryan". Ok, an very odd person might say "Easy", but really not that many.

So "British Airways" should change their name then !? I don't see any problem with the name "Brussels Airlines"; and if people shorten it (as I sometimes do) to "SN" or "Brussels", so be it; at least it shows they know it exists.

There will be a time, eventually, in maybe 5, 10 or 20 years time, when the Eurowings has become so big and has bases all across Europe, that it would be stupid for Brussels Airlines not wanting to be associated with that brand.

Could be...if they are successful. [It would be interesting to know the financial performance of both SN and EW (not consolidated with SN of course)!]

[lumumba]

With the discussion about the brand "Brussels Airlines" on this board, I started think about it for a moment. I am not convinced that Brussels Airlines really is the best name for the airline in its present form. When I ask friends, family, colleagues: who are you going to fly with? They say, "SN Brussels Airlines", "Brussels", "SN", sometimes even "Brussels Airlines".
Brussels Airlines is a long name and people shorten it very often. This means to me, that it is not the strongest brand possible. With other airlines, they just say "Ryanair", "KLM", "Easyjet", etc. They don't say a variation like "FR" or "Ryan". Ok, an very odd person might say "Easy", but really not that many.

So "British Airways" should change their name then !? I don't see any problem with the name "Brussels Airlines"; and if people shorten it (as I sometimes do) to "SN" or "Brussels", so be it; at least it shows they know it exists.

There will be a time, eventually, in maybe 5, 10 or 20 years time, when the Eurowings has become so big and has bases all across Europe, that it would be stupid for Brussels Airlines not wanting to be associated with that brand.

Could be...if they are successful. [It would be interesting to know the financial performance of both SN and EW (not consolidated with SN of course)!]

I'm totally agree with you here....

[RoMax]

Let's not be naive here, "Brussels Airlines" is virtually unknown outside of Belgium and Africa. The name has no history, it's a relatively small airline, it's not "catchy" (which is indeed the reason people refer to it in so many variations), it's not very recognizable, ... Referring to British Airways is not exactly a good example...it's a brand with a huge history, the first word of their name says it all, etc., that's in no way comparable.

Does that mean we have to do away with it as soon as possible? Definitely not, because it does have it's meaning in Belgium in Africa (and a small but loyal public outside of these 'home markets'). And that's exactly why EW is not rushing a decision whatsoever when it comes to the brand. Gustin always said "we will not replace the brand unless we find a better alternative", EW is now saying exactly the same but in different words. Rest assured that EW/LHG is not going to throw away a very valuable asset in one of the fastest growing markets in the world (Africa) - in some countries SN even almost has a virtual flag carrier status being known as the only trustworthy European airline "that's never ever abandoning us".
Adjustments will be made yes, but that only makes sense. Eurowings Group is the fastest growing large airline in Europe and even in 2017 it was already bigger than airlines like SAS (in terms of passengers). It would be stupid not to exploit that position even further and 'nurture' the Eurowings Group outside the Germanic markets. But that needs to be done carefully and without simply wiping out all value from a small but meaningful brand. And they know it.

[convair]

Brussels Airlines January 2018 traffic figures, a growth of 15% compared to January 2017.

To have an accurate figure, you should add TCAB passengers for 2017 before calculating. I would estimate the real growth to be around 5%.

You might not have access to the detailed data so not blaming for not being 100% accurate, but seriously? I don't know what you expect from TC in a winter month like January, but you are highly overestimating it. When excluding the so-called TC routes (so including e.g. TFS and LPA even though these were already served before the take-over) growth in January was still (slightly) above 10%! About 80% of the traffic from TC is flying in the summer season, so it'll be then when you see the real impact. Currently the only major markets are Egypt, Cabo Verde, Morocco, Tunisia and Canary Islands with only TFS being a really frequent service.
No need to implicate SN is almost only growing on ex-TC routes and not caring about the rest anymore.

2 different things to consider here:

1. The number of ex-TC flights is still high, mostly every Saturday, even in January (TFS, LP, Capo Verde, Alicante, Marrakesh, Agadir, Marsa Alam, Hurghada, Djerba, Ibiza..., maybe for a total of 12 to 15 if you include some on other days of the week); these would be equivalent to 15000 to 20000 pax for the month, assuming these flights are always full; that is not negligible at all, to the point of partly compensating the lower frequencies on Moscow and Tel Aviv. e.g..

2. There are still regularly every week a few "charter" flights with numbers starting with 1. I assume those are for other companies than TC. These pax are NOT included in the SN pax, and I'm not trying to guess how many.

All this being considered, the January 2018 trafic figures are still very impressive!

[RoMax]

1. The number of ex-TC flights is still high, mostly every Saturday, even in January (TFS, LP, Capo Verde, Alicante, Marrakesh, Agadir, Marsa Alam, Hurghada, Djerba, Ibiza..., maybe for a total of 12 to 15 if you include some on other days of the week); these would be equivalent to 15000 to 20000 pax for the month, assuming these flights are always full; that is not negligible at all, to the point of partly compensating the lower frequencies on Moscow and Tel Aviv. e.g..

I'm not trying to downplay the importance of the operations for TC, not at all. I'm just putting it in perspective to the total operation of SN in a month like January. Yes we are talking about several tens of thousands of passengers, but it's very far from reality to think that with 15% growth in pax in January it would have been around 5% excluding these operations. No, even outside the TC network SN recorded double-digit growth and I think it's only fair to make that fact very clear (considering the amount of people thinking here SN is seemingly putting all its 'growing eggs' in the basket of leisure operations).

2. There are still regularly every week a few "charter" flights with numbers starting with 1. I assume those are for other companies than TC. These pax are NOT included in the SN pax, and I'm not trying to guess how many.

There are indeed still several charter operations for other tour operators (like on Egypt you have both scheduled and charter flights on the same day during the weekends). But these are never counted by SN as it are not considered SN passengers (it's part of the business, but for SN it's "revenue" not "passengers"), but of course they are part of the BRU figures. However in January this segment is not that huge either.

[sn26567]

[It would be interesting to know the financial performance of both SN and EW (not consolidated with SN of course)!]

I found some Eurowings figures for the first 6 months of 2017, where the part of SN is clearly shown:



The last available figures are for 9 months in 2017, without a breakdown between SN and EW. They are available on https://investor-relations.lufthansagro ... ports.html

But I read somewhere that the important figure (EBITDA, 9 months 2017) was only €15M for SN for a total of €282M for the Eurowings Group...

[DeltaWiskey]

But I read somewhere that the important figure (EBITDA, 9 months 2017) was only €15M for SN for a total of €282M for the Eurowings Group...

first nine months EBIT was 15M, EBITDA was substantially higher at 78M.
Eurowings only EBIT: 204M on a revenue that is almost twice that of SN, so slightly better

Eurowings is profitable short haul only, Brussels Airlines long haul only.

You can see why it makes sense to combine the strengths of the 2 companies.

[crew1990]

1. The number of ex-TC flights is still high, mostly every Saturday, even in January (TFS, LP, Capo Verde, Alicante, Marrakesh, Agadir, Marsa Alam, Hurghada, Djerba, Ibiza..., maybe for a total of 12 to 15 if you include some on other days of the week); these would be equivalent to 15000 to 20000 pax for the month, assuming these flights are always full; that is not negligible at all, to the point of partly compensating the lower frequencies on Moscow and Tel Aviv. e.g..

Alicante, Tenerife, Las Palma and Marrakesh were SN destination before the integration of TCW, Ibiza and Djerba are not flown at the moment. Actually the only new winter flights coming from TCW are Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Agadir, Marsa Alam, Hurghada, Sal and Boa Vista. Those flight are not full at the moment, this is the low season, I really don't know how you can thing there are 20 000 pax, I would personally say around 9 000.

If you remove those 9 000 from the 590 329 it will still be much more than 5%!

[RoMax]

1. The number of ex-TC flights is still high, mostly every Saturday, even in January (TFS, LP, Capo Verde, Alicante, Marrakesh, Agadir, Marsa Alam, Hurghada, Djerba, Ibiza..., maybe for a total of 12 to 15 if you include some on other days of the week); these would be equivalent to 15000 to 20000 pax for the month, assuming these flights are always full; that is not negligible at all, to the point of partly compensating the lower frequencies on Moscow and Tel Aviv. e.g..

Alicante, Tenerife, Las Palma and Marrakesh were SN destination before the integration of TCW, Ibiza and Djerba are not flown at the moment. Actually the only new winter flights coming from TCW are Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Agadir, Marsa Alam, Hurghada, Sal and Boa Vista. Those flight are not full at the moment, this is the low season, I really don't know how you can thing there are 20 000 pax, I would personally say around 9 000.

If you remove those 9 000 from the 590 329 it will still be much more than 5%!

I don't know if it's the case for the full winter season, but DJE is served 1/week with an A319 under a regular flightnr (however fully allotted to TC from what I know). Marrakesh, Tenerife and Las Palmas were indeed already served but with a majority of passengers on these flights now coming from TC, they are categorized as such. And then you do get to a few tens thousands of pax.

But again as I already mentioned, even when excluding this full category (so also TFS, LPA, RAK) growth was >10%.

[sean1982]

Eurowings is profitable short haul only, Brussels Airlines long haul only.

Hence why going for low yield O&D traffic when Europe’s biggest low cost carrier has the biggest part of the home market on short haul was the wrong choice. With so much pressure on price it’s a lost battle from the start. Long haul was always the nessecary way to go

[nordikcam]

Finally, Yerevan was a mistake or not? It is always impossible to book ...for summer season.