Brussels Airlines flights to Abidjan: cancellations & change

[sn26567]

SN flights to/from Abidjan cancelled due to difficult political situation and post-election curfew in Ivory Coast until 6 December included.

[taz001]

any news about the competition (AF)? Are they still operating?

[LJ]

any news about the competition (AF)? Are they still operating?

AF is still flying to Abidjan with an adjusted schedule. It seems as if they don't want to arrive at night in Abidjan and therefore depart at midnight from CDG and make an extra stop enroute to Abidjan. The extra stop is probably a stop to replace the crew.

[taz001]

I see... due to the curfew nobody is able to make it to the airport at night.
AF just has the advantage they can adapt their schedule... SN isn't that flexible with their small longhaul fleet.

[theeuropean]

I don't Air France can adapt its schedule any more...according to the BBC the Ivorian military has blocked all borders including air borders (which I'm guessing also includes the airport). I think it's more clever to cancel all flights for a few days than deciding on a day by day basis...especially in this situation where anything can happen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11905971

[regi]

This shows again the danger of high yield markets. There is a reason why tickets to some African destinations are very expensive compared to other long haul destinations.
Remember the blockage of the SN A330 at Ruanda because of the air unworthy Silverback was blocked at Brussels ?
I don't know how many airplanes are blocked now at Ivory Coast. But each day those machines don't perform it costs their owners a lot of money.
And somebody has to pay that bill. And it is you, the passenger.

[LJ]

I don't Air France can adapt its schedule any more...according to the BBC the Ivorian military has blocked all borders including air borders (which I'm guessing also includes the airport). I think it's more clever to cancel all flights for a few days than deciding on a day by day basis...especially in this situation where anything can happen.

''
AF seems to be doing just that. Tomorrows flights isn't cancelled (yet). They probably gamble that it won't take too much time. Furthermore, I reckon an airline such as AF probably contact their pax and give them the choice to rebook.

This shows again the danger of high yield markets. There is a reason why tickets to some African destinations are very expensive compared to other long haul destinations.

I doubt that flights to Africa are expensive because an airline runs the risk of getting its aircraft stuck. It's more a supply - demand issue. Furthermore, tickets to Africa aren't always so expensive anyway (though this may b e different from France or Belgium).

[taz001]

CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/afric ... =allsearch

As people in the Ivory Coast awaited a final resolution, the army closed its borders as a security precaution.
"The air, land and sea border of the country are closed to all movement of people and goods starting this day, Thursday, December 2, 2010 from 8 p.m. local until further notice," Army Col. Major Babri Gohourou said on television.

I don't see how AF could operate flights to Ivory Coast... Unless they advice pax they might end up in neighbouring countries.

[regi]

CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/afric ... =allsearch

As people in the Ivory Coast awaited a final resolution, the army closed its borders as a security precaution.
"The air, land and sea border of the country are closed to all movement of people and goods starting this day, Thursday, December 2, 2010 from 8 p.m. local until further notice," Army Col. Major Babri Gohourou said on television.

I don't see how AF could operate flights to Ivory Coast... Unless they advice pax they might end up in neighbouring countries.

I would not dare to board an airplane bound for Ivory Coast. Before you know it you end up at Liège

[LJ]

The airport in Abidjan is open. Last nights AF flight is still delayed, but I reckon AF will resume service to Abidjan by today. However, AF has changed the flight into a night flight (via Contonou) as to arrive in ABJ in daylight. Is SN also going to resume operations now that the airport is open again?

[sn26567]

brussels airlines West Africa operation on 07DEC10

Due to ongoing political unrest in Abidjan, brussels airlines today (07DEC10) is to by-pass Abidjan on Brussels – Cotonou service. The Star Alliance member is to operate Brussels – Cotonou – Accra – Lome – Brussels routing.

SN1231 BRU1505 – 2140COO2255 – 2245ACC2355 – 0040+1LFW 333 07DEC10
SN1231 LFW0120 – 0840BRU 333 08DEC10

AIRFRANCE Abidjan service re-route as of 07DEC10

Due to ongoing political unrest in Abidjan, AIRFRANCE on 07DEC10 continues to operate Paris CDG – Cotonou – Abidjan – Paris CDG routing, which has been in effect since last weekend. AIRFRANCE is continuing to monitor the situation and may continue this arrangement for the next few days.

Schedule:

AF702 CDG2315 – 0510+1COO0710+1 – 0730+1ABJ 77W 07DEC10
AF703 ABJ0945 – 1700CDG 77W 08DEC10

Source: airlineroute.net

[sn26567]

brussels airlines extends West Africa operation changes till Mar 2011

Due to political instability in Cote d’Ivoire, as per 17DEC10 GDS timetable display, brussels airlines is extending operational changes to Abidjan, as well as Lome, Cotonou and Ouagadougou until 27MAR11.

Once condition improves these changes may be reverted at earlier dates. Schedules for these routes as follows:

2 weekly Brussels – Ouagadougou – Abidjan – Lome – Ouagadougou – Brussels

Code: Select all

SN1255 BRU1050 – 1545OUA1630 – 1810ABJ 333 47
SN1256 ABJ1910 – 2010LFW2100 – 2225OUA2325 – 0610+1BRU 333 47

2 weekly Brussels – Lome – Abidjan

Code: Select all

SN1253 BRU1030 – 1620LFW1720 – 1835  ABJ 333 5
SN1251 BRU1030 – 1620LFW1720 – 1835  ABJ 333 1
SN1254 ABJ1935 – 2050LFW2205 – 0540+1BRU 333 5
SN1252 ABJ1935 – 2050LFW2205 – 0540+1BRU 333 1

2 weekly Brussels – Lome – Cotonou – Brussels (1 of 2 weekly operates reverse direction)

Code: Select all

SN1229 BRU1415 – 2005LFW2120 – 2300COO0010+1 – 0645+1BRU 333 6
SN1231 BRU1415 – 2050COO2200 – 2140LFW2255   – 0630+1BRU 333 2 

Source: airlineroute.net

[sdbelgium]

Political situation in Ivory Coast: Cancellation of flights to/from Abidjan on 6 and 10 April 2011.

Due to increased tension in Ivory Coast, no longer guaranteeing a safe operation into the airport of Abidjan, Brussels Airlines is forced to cancel its flights to/from Abidjan on 6 and 10 April 2011.

Affected passengers booked on flights to and from Abidjan of 6 and 10 April, are offered following possibilies:

* Rebook to a later date free of charge
* Request a refund free of charge
* Request a travel voucher equivalent to the total value of your ticket for further transportation

Rebooking / requesting a refund can be done at the Brussels Airlines ticketing desk at the airport, our Customer Contact Centre (tel. +32 (0)2 723 23 62) or via your travel agency. Your reservation cannot be changed/refunded online.

Source: Brussels Airlines website

[sn26567]

Brussels – Abidjan – Accra – Brussels to be resumed from 17APR11. Accra service until then to be operated via Monrovia on outbound (SN1227; 2 weekly SN265 via Lome remains unchanged)

Code: Select all

SN1227 BRU1235 – 1720ROB1830 – 2015ACC2115 – 0555+1BRU 333 37

Source: airlineroute.net

Edit from Brussels Airlines: [Flight Update] SN flights to/from #Abidjan cancelled until 17 April included, due to unstable political situation in Ivory Coast.

[SN_fan]

* Request a refund free of charge
* Request a travel voucher equivalent to the total value of your ticket for further transportation

Why would anyone be willing to choose a travel voucher instead of cash if the amount is the same?
Do you want cash or something that is like cash but can only be used here.

[sn26567]

Edit from Brussels Airlines: [Flight Update] SN flights to/from #Abidjan cancelled until 17 April included, due to unstable political situation in Ivory Coast.

Reply from Abidjan Airport to Brussels Airlines:
Too bad as Gbagbo has been arrested and the war is over... another missed occasion !

[RoMax]

Reply from Abidjan Airport to Brussels Airlines:
Too bad as Gbagbo has been arrested and the war is over... another missed occasion !

The war may be over (let's hope it is over...) but that doesn't mean that suddenly everyone wants to go back to Abidjan. But anyway the economy will recover in the comming months if everythings goes better as from now, so SN has to upgauge ABJ again. But hey, here we have the "too-small-long-haul-fleet-problem" again. Because of the problems with Senegal, SN had to start flying non-stop DKR without tag-ons. They could back up this because ABJ needed less flights. But 'soon' ABJ will need more flights again. So lets hope the new bilateral agreement with Senegal allows SN to fly some destinations trough DKR (altough without 5th freedom rights, Senegal will never allow that) so that they can add more flights to ABJ. A temporary wet lease is possible (as they did with DKR) but is too expensive for a longer period, so that would be no solution.

[sn26567]

New information from Brussels Airlines:

[Flight Update] flights to/from Abidjan cancelled till 24 April included, due to political situation

... or due to lack of customers?

[tolipanebas]

But the lack of customers is due to the political situation, so I don't understand your point really.

As others have said: it's not because the fighting in the streets of Abidjan is over (for the time being), that suddenly hundreds of pax are again lining up to fly out to ABJ right away, you know?

I think most will wait a bit to see what happens over the coming weeks and so demand is going to be low for some time to come, so don't expect a return to normality (with 5 flights per week) anytime soon. After all, Ivory Coast wouldn't be the first country in Africa where a regime change spurs a round of ethnic cleansing for instance and it seems the first reports about this are already coming in as we talk.

Either way, the political unrest in ABJ is going to have a noticable impact till deep into this summer for all airlines serving ABJ, whether we're talking SN, AF or EK, either through schedule cutbacks, through terribly low load factors or a combination of both...

[regi]

But the lack of customers is due to the political situation, so I don't understand your point really.

As others have said: it's not because the fighting in the streets of Abidjan is over (for the time being), that suddenly hundreds of pax are again lining up to fly out to ABJ right away, you know?

I think most will wait a bit to see what happens over the coming weeks and so demand is going to be low for some time to come, so don't expect a return to normality (with 5 flights per week) anytime soon. After all, Ivory Coast wouldn't be the first country in Africa where a regime change spurs a round of ethnic cleansing for instance and it seems the first reports about this are already coming in as we talk.

Either way, the political unrest in ABJ is going to have a noticable impact till deep into this summer for all airlines serving ABJ, whether we're talking SN, AF or EK, either through schedule cutbacks, through terribly low load factors or a combination of both...

and high ticket prices...