BRU Winter 2015/2016: latest news, routes, airlines

[RoMax]

So either they are not interested in the subsidy (can we call it a PSO?) per se and just see the potential in the route as Cyprus Airways does no longer exist (several other airlines, especially in Southern and Eastern Europe, showed interest in routes to/from Cyprus that are not related to the rest of their network, airBaltic is very opportunistic, so it's a possibility), or there are possibilities to get a special arrangement to operate a lower frequency and get a part of the promised subsidy in case there are not other candidates.

[Inquirer]

According to what I heard on the Dinner I had with M'OL and EW BRU and CRL are above expectations. Germany is the prime target at the moment (hence the SXF route) and the evaluation of gate space, airbridges and the handeling agent is tbc. But I saw planned crew training figures for next year and they are quite different

Thanks for the update; at least a little bit of background info on where your latest prediction come from.
Will be interesting to see whether it materializes this time.
Based on circumstantial evidence and some figures available, it looks to me like BRU is planned to get 1 extra plane to operate a (three times daily?) MAD flight with next summer...
Not bad, but now "wow" either. Wonder if there will be much more?

SN has requested slots for ZAG, NTE, BRE, NUE and LNZ.
...
BM has requests for NTE 2 x daily

Let me guess: they contemplate opening NTE twice daily, with the flight operated by bmi?
Would definitely be a good feeder route for their long haul network, as well as much of their eastern European and Nordic routes.

NUE would be a great addition too: if confirmed and at least twice daily, I'll definitely be flying on that route several times a month!

BRE will thus continue this winter, after launching it a couple of weeks ago to start at the end of the summer season? Maybe with more/improved frequencies too? Would definitely help the route build traction.

LNZ is a complete surprise to me! What could be the reason behind it?

Seems like B.air has put secondary German routes high on their agenda for this winter.
Not a bad strategy: BRU can serve as a good connecting hub for many of those, thus bypassing FRA/MUC.

Any news on when Brussels Airlines is going to present their final winter time table, btw?
From this it seems like they'll be adding another bunch of routes to their portfolio, also this winter!
Together with those already known, it might be yet another impressive list.

BT has requested strange slot for LCA - BRU 2 weekly.

Indeed, very strange and most certainly linked with the offer of the government to fund this route.
I do wonder how they will get a plane over there each time for just this one flight?
Or are there other routes sponsored by the CY government too?

[RoMax]

Indeed, very strange and most certainly linked with the offer of the government to fund this route.
I do wonder how they will get a plane over there each time for just this one flight?
Or are there other routes sponsored by the CY government too?

They could shuffle a bit with the Riga-Larnaca flights that they already have. Or with the flights they have to Brussels, flying on to Larnaca. That's not the difficult thing to do.

Let me guess: they contemplate opening NTE twice daily, with the flight operated by bmi?
Would definitely be a good feeder route for their long haul network, as well as much of their eastern European and Nordic routes.

NUE would be a great addition too: if confirmed and at least twice daily, I'll definitely be flying on that route several times a month!

BRE will thus continue this winter, after launching it a couple of weeks ago to start at the end of the summer season? Maybe with more/improved frequencies too? Would definitely help the route build traction.

I don't expect NUE to be double daily, at least not from the start, just like Bremen. Currently there is not that much demand between BRU and BRE and NUE, so SN partly has to create demand and they can (especially Bremen with onward connections to other major Airbus-cities), but double daily would be overkill. One-day return trips and long haul connections are not the prime reason to start BRE (en maybe NUE) anyway, it could follow later of course if the route proves to have enough potential.

NTE would be nice addition indeed, and indeed seems like BD could a be a good fit. Two daily E145 or E135 would be much better than one daily RJ100 (two daily RJ100 would be overkill probably).

[sn26567]

NUE is not a new destination in the BRU network: I remember flying BRU-NUE operated by NFD (Nürnberger Flugdienst, the company that evolved to become Eurowings) on an ATR42. But that was decades ago...

[RoMax]

NUE is not a new destination in the BRU network: I remember flying BRU-NUE operated by NFD (Nürnberger Flugdienst, the company that evolved to become Eurowings) on an ATR42. But that was decades ago...

I believe LH (Cityline or regional or whatever) operated the route for some time in the past, but that's also already several years ago (I think they stopped around the early days of the economic crisis or even before).

[flywithUs]

With all these short and thin routes, will we see some news in a not-so-distant future about RJ's or tuboprop entering the fleet? I cannot imagine A32X on these routes (and on some others already in the network), ERJ's are not really the most efficient plane around and Avro's won't (sadly) last forever...

[RoMax]

With all these short and thin routes, will we see some news in a not-so-distant future about RJ's or tuboprop entering the fleet? I cannot imagine A32X on these routes (and on some others already in the network), ERJ's are not really the most efficient plane around and Avro's won't (sadly) last forever...

SN's own fleet will only consist of A320 series and A330's (unless they replace the A330's of course, but I doubt that will happen for at least the next 5 years). The rest will be wet-lease operations (like those we see with FlyBe and BMI) and once the RJ100's are really on the way out (and it will not take that long anymore before the first RJ100 leaves), that will probably include some 100-seaters on wet lease for routes that can't sustain an A319.

[skumfiduse]

Also BT has requested strange slot for LCA - BRU 2 weekly.

Probably lured by the subsidy they can get for the route (although I thought it needed to be at least 3 weekly to get the EUR 750,000/year, or was that only during summer?)

It was three times during Winter and four times a week during Summer, so two weekly would seem rather strange (unless the Cypriot government adjusted the conditions again).

The tender specifications set by the Cypriot government are a little complex, but this is, what I believe, most relevant to get the right picture on this Public Service Obligation route Larnaca-Brussels-Larnaca:

• If BT (assuming they win the tender) decides to start the route Winter 2015-2016, they shall operate the route until Summer 2018. If BT decides to start the route Summer 2016, they shall operate the route until Winter 2019-2020.

• BT shall provide a description of the number and type of aircraft or plans for the acquirement of an aircraft to be used on the route. Should BT win the tender, it will be either a Boeing 737-500 (735) or a Dash 8 Q400 (DH8).

• Minimum frequencies during the winter season are set at 2 weekly rotations; during the summer season are set at 2 weekly rotations.

• Seating capacity in both directions shall be at least 20.8000 seats for Winter 2015-2016 + Summer 2016. This corresponds to an average of 400 seats per week per season.

• When the average loadfactor exceeds 85% of the seating capacity during Winter 2015-2016, BT shall increase the frequency by one additional rotation during Winter 2016-2017. BT may use smaller aircraft (shift between 735 and DH8), provided that the new weekly capacity is greater than 400 seats per week.

• When the average loadfactor is lower than 65% of the weekly capacity, a decrease in production may take place. When the number of bookings on certain flights of this route is lower than 65% during Winter 2015-2016 (and any other winter season), BT may cancel such flights provided that by the end of Winter 2015-2016 at least 82% of the prescribed flights will be operated.

• We're talking about EU-support of 3.000.000 euro for the full contract period of 4 years.

Source: https://www.eprocurement.gov.cy/ceproc/ ... Id=1384059

Do we have a traffic planner among us for an example schedule with equipment?

[sdbelgium]

Good luck flying LCA-BRU with a DH8

[skumfiduse]

Good luck flying LCA-BRU with a DH8

I'm sorry, I didn't check on that... So they are limited to a 735. Not much flexibility to adjust the product offer, though.

[sn26567]

Indeed: the range of the Q400 is 2520km, whereas BRU-LCA is 2940km.

[Inquirer]

I don't expect NUE to be double daily, at least not from the start, just like Bremen. Currently there is not that much demand between BRU and BRE and NUE, so SN partly has to create demand and they can (especially Bremen with onward connections to other major Airbus-cities), but double daily would be overkill. One-day return trips and long haul connections are not the prime reason to start BRE (en maybe NUE) anyway, it could follow later of course if the route proves to have enough potential.

NTE would be nice addition indeed, and indeed seems like BD could a be a good fit. Two daily E145 or E135 would be much better than one daily RJ100 (two daily RJ100 would be overkill probably).

Back in the old days, (early 2000 that is for me, I am not THAT old yet) Sabena used to operate 3 daily frequencies even on NUE and I remember the flight drew a lot of connecting traffic.

FWIW, NTE was 3 times daily too, back then, but BRE I can't find back in the last Sabena time table.

Seems they are slowly rebuilding the regional network again if these routes indeed get launched, at least in France + Germany.

[RoMax]

Back in the old days, (early 2000 that is for me, I am not THAT old yet) Sabena used to operate 3 daily frequencies even on NUE and I remember the flight drew a lot of connecting traffic.

However Brussels Airlines is not Sabena. SN will definitely not be able to fill 3 daily to/from NUE to a reasonable level, not even 2 if you ask me (at least not from the start).

[Inquirer]

I know they are NOT Sabena luckily, but likewhise they did launch Billund with a twice daily schedule out of the blue too, so it wouldn't be unheard of either. Will be most interesting to watch their winter season presentation (if they make a show like the low costs make of it), and especially the reasoning behind LNZ!

[RoMax]

I know they are NOT Sabena luckily, but likewhise they did launch Billund with a twice daily schedule out of the blue too, so it wouldn't be unheard of either. Will be most interesting to watch their winter season presentation (if they make a show like the low costs make of it), and especially the reasoning behind LNZ!

Of course NUE and BLL are very different markets. It would be very nice to have a double daily, but knowing what I know about that potential route, I doubt it very much. Especially as even Bremen is not launching as a double daily.

[cathay belgium]

Hi,

Thinking of NUE,Linz,Bremen,... these routes could be the first which will see a transforming livery from SN to Eurowings in the near future I guess... when LH takes over
Guess these destination are whispered from Frankfurt.


CXB

[crew1990]

Very good panel of new destination this winter, 8 in total!

Zagreb
Billund
Bremen
Tenerife
Gran Canaria
Linz
Nantes
Nuremberg

I just wonder if Linz is not maybe just for the ski during the winter season.

Just bad that Brussels Airlines will not operate the Larnaca route.

[RoMax]

Mind that as long as Linz, Nantes and Nurnberg are not confirmed by SN and bookable on the website, they are not firm
And to complete the list, don't forget the new long haul destination Accra. Also Billund already started this summer and Zagreb will start after the high summer season but still before the IATA winter season starts, so yes they are new for the winter, but not completely new

[sn26567]

SN's own fleet will only consist of A320 series and A330's (unless they replace the A330's of course, but I doubt that will happen for at least the next 5 years). The rest will be wet-lease operations (like those we see with FlyBe and BMI) and once the RJ100's are really on the way out (and it will not take that long anymore before the first RJ100 leaves), that will probably include some 100-seaters on wet lease for routes that can't sustain an A319.

They could take example on sister company Austrian Airlines, which will wet-lease a second Embraer E170 from Estonian Air beginning 01 August 2015.

[lumumba]

Very good panel of new destination this winter, 8 in total!

Zagreb
Billund
Bremen
Tenerife
Gran Canaria
Linz
Nantes
Nuremberg

I just wonder if Linz is not maybe just for the ski during the winter season.

Just bad that Brussels Airlines will not operate the Larnaca route.

And Accra...