Brussels Airlines daily to Montreal as from 25 March

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 20 Nov 2006, 22:17

I just received an e-mail of my contactperson of Montreal Airport.

As we all knewn there was a Belgian airline who asked permission to fly direct to Montreal.

She said to me that it is Brussels Airlines who wants offer a daily flight from Brussels to Montreal.

That means that Brussels Airlines has to be that fourth airplane till that day or could it be that an American airline like AA or DL will offer that flight in codeshare with Brussels Airlines?

Its almost four months to start up that new service, that's not long.
I'm very curious.

teach · Post by **teach** » 20 Nov 2006, 22:38

This was already hinted at earlier here by the people who were at the Brussels Airlines press conference. Problem is that it doesn't seem like a sure thing at all: they have applied for the route, but whether they start it or not will depend on whether or not they can get a fourth widebody by then. And, while I hope they can, I'm not holding my breath...

Boeing747-nurse · Post by **Boeing747-nurse** » 20 Nov 2006, 23:50

Maybe this has something to do with the offer from Etihad Airways towards Brussels Arlines.
We know Etihad will fly direct to Toronto in the near future, and so there will be no more BRU-TORONTO. Maybe they will give an A330 to Brussels Airlines for a cheap (rent) price, and Brussels Airlines can start up this route and keep the link with Canada...
Only speculations of course, but it would be great news for Bru-Airport, and the new company!!!

Does anyone know when Etihad will receive some new livery of airplines. At that moment they can lease the older aircraft to SN...

SE210 · Post by **SE210** » 21 Nov 2006, 00:28

A few questions :

AFAK there is no "offer" from Etihad towards "BA" ( aka Brussels Airlines).
Where did you get the confirmed information that Etihad will fly direct - which is not the same as non-stop by the way - to Toronto ?
"BA" would be very happy if another airline would "give" them an A330 taking into consideration that this type of aircraft is quite difficult to acquire and that they are rather expensive lease-wise ! Ordering them will imply a delivery time of at least two years !
As you said ... only speculations of course ... so what's the purpose of your post ?

Cheers,
SE210

Robin_Bamps · Post by **Robin_Bamps** » 21 Nov 2006, 00:30

Boeing747-nurse wrote:(...)Maybe they will give an A330 to Brussels Airlines for a cheap (rent) price, and Brussels Airlines can start up this route and keep the link with Canada(...)Does anyone know when Etihad will receive some new livery of airplines. At that moment they can lease the older aircraft to SN...

1) Etihad leased 5 A330-200's when the airline started up in late 2003 : A6-EYA, A6-EYB and A6-EYX were leased from TAM Brasil and have left the fleet again last summer and were put back in service with TAM ; A6-EYV and A6-EYW are the two other ones, they're still in the fleet and leased from ILFC (served before with Canada 3000 and Volare Airlines). This means EY can never sale them to SN, SN should lease/buy them from ILFC than. Also note that these are -200 models while SN has -300 models in its current fleet.

2) Etihad will take delivery in the upcoming days of A6-EYK, which is currently still in TLS. After that one they have further 4 A332's on order. So I expect the final two older leased A332's will leave the fleet too than. But as said in my previous point, the frames will return to ILFC at that moment. EY itself can't sale them.

When this operation is completed, EY will operate 14 factory-new A332's.

Regards, Robin Bamps.

Boeing747-nurse · Post by **Boeing747-nurse** » 21 Nov 2006, 07:45

Thank you for the infomation, Robin Bamps.
About the direct flights from ABU DHABI to TORONTO, I read this info a few months ago on one of the forums of this site.

ERICAIRLINES · Post by **ERICAIRLINES** » 21 Nov 2006, 11:03

Canadian market from BRU is 85 pct for YUL and 15 pct for YYZ (+ beyond,yvr etc..)
Interesting to note that AC could be interested in codesharing with Ba ..
For the moment AF and KL are taking care of ex YUL pax of sabena...
An TS is adding one more flight as of april 2007 (3 iso 2)
Ac was at one time,interested to offer a YUL-BRU-BEY for ethnic market (vff)reasons,but with the war...in lebanon,it is not in their plans anymore

tolipanebas · Post by **tolipanebas** » 21 Nov 2006, 11:52

This news seems to confirm what I have said in the topic regarding the ground incident with an A330 in DLA a few weeks ago.

It is just an educated guess of mine, but I think SN will use this 4th plane NOT to expand in Africa, but to open a new North American destination, most likely Montreal:
If they do this, they achieve 2 things at a time:
-)they open a new transatlantic route which they've wanted for a long time
AND
-) they have a possiblity to (more) easily free up a plane of their own if and when an A330 gets stuck in Africa. It is much easier to reroute pax on North American destinations than it is on African destinations...

Latest rumour regarding the 4th long haul plane is that SN has had the offer to take an A340-300 at a very good rate and are now evaluating if this could be an option for them after all, taking into account of course that this plane will be an odd bird when it comes to crew scheduling (A319/A330 cross crew qualification excludes flying A340 as well).
Maintenance wouldn't be a problem, since Sabena technics is obviously qualified to work on the A340 as well. Preference is however still strongly with the A333...

Duke · Post by **Duke** » 21 Nov 2006, 12:30

@tolipanebas :
Where would this A340-300 come from?

AirDupont · Post by **AirDupont** » 21 Nov 2006, 14:29

VS most probably

AirDupont · Post by **AirDupont** » 21 Nov 2006, 15:25

On airliners.net there's a topic saying that SNBA will get 767's???

Avro · Post by **Avro** » 21 Nov 2006, 18:02

Rumours seem to go wild again for the new long haul equipment. Let's wait and see for the new equipment, what counts is that it seems brussels airlines is interested into the Canadian market !! It would be nice to have a Belgian airline flying over the Atlantic again, although I wonder if the yields are not too low on the Montreal market...

Let's corss our fingers and yes either B767, A340 or A330 they are all welcome

Chris

wernerrav4 · Post by **wernerrav4** » 24 Nov 2006, 22:47

I hope for my sake

and all those among us who are often travelling to YYZ and YYL that there is a direct flight from Brussels next summer. The rumour, confirmed or not, about Etihad flying non stop to YYZ was already mentioned here on this forum,I cannot remember the topic or date but I am sure I read that information here.
We'll just have to wait and see when the official annoucements will be made by BA and Etihad.

AirDupont · Post by **AirDupont** » 25 Nov 2006, 14:41

Does anyone have any idea when Virgin Atlantic's 343's are becoming free?
Strong rumour is that the 4th airplane could be a 343 to start North Atlantic flights.

Robin_Bamps · Post by **Robin_Bamps** » 25 Nov 2006, 14:50

AirDupont wrote:Does anyone have any idea when Virgin Atlantic's 343's are becoming free?

Seen at http://www.aerpix.net just a second ago on the SR Technics (ZRH) page :

G-VAEL A.340-311 Virgin Atlantic Airways arr 24 Nov without titles & tail logo, C-02 check, phase-out

G-VAEL is a very early A340, msn 015 and built in 1993. VS leased it from the manufacturer.

Regards, Robin Bamps.

AirDupont · Post by **AirDupont** » 25 Nov 2006, 16:10

Could this be destined to be a future Brussels Airlines jet?

teach · Post by **teach** » 25 Nov 2006, 16:36

G-VAEL is a very early A340, msn 015 and built in 1993.

Sounds like an ideal candidate: pretty 'old' for A340 standards, of the less popular -311 series with less range than the later -313X (but more than enough for what SN would use it for). The plane's age combined with it being a less popular subtype probably means the leasing price drops significantly.

Of course, it is always possible that VS isn't really getting rid of it, but is just transferring it to its Virgin Nigeria subsidiary, like it did with sistership G-VBUS.

fly · Post by **fly** » 25 Nov 2006, 18:54

don't think the A340-311 is going to virgin nigeria because they are getting rid of their A340 to lease 767 aircraft

SilverJET · Post by **SilverJET** » 25 Nov 2006, 19:52

Robin_Bamps wrote:
AirDupont wrote:Does anyone have any idea when Virgin Atlantic's 343's are becoming free?
Seen at http://www.aerpix.net just a second ago on the SR Technics (ZRH) page :

G-VAEL A.340-311 Virgin Atlantic Airways arr 24 Nov without titles & tail logo, C-02 check, phase-out

G-VAEL is a very early A340, msn 015 and built in 1993. VS leased it from the manufacturer.

Regards, Robin Bamps.

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5800498

Looks good, but wait and see. It would certainly opens some doors to other routes (Asia).

Anybody has an idea of the ETOPS certificate (90-120-180) SNBA is allowed? The A340 can operate without any of these hassles.

thomascookie · Post by **thomascookie** » 25 Nov 2006, 21:28

If you check the Brussels Airlines website for the future flights to Montreal they are still the same like SN now. Operated by AA via JFK and then furher on with AA Eagle. So maybe we sold the bears skin before he was shot. (u know what I mean

) or am I wrong? (I hope so because I'd love to see a belgian 340 again)

Regards
Bram