This morning I attended the official inauguration of the new Ryanair route between Brussels and Dublin, which was launched last Sunday.
- Advertisement for the new route at the Ryanair check-in counter (Row 2)
It was the opportunity to have a nice chat with Yann Delomez, the new Ryanair marketing manager for Belgium, France and Morocco, about Ryanair in Belgium (extension of the Charleroi runway, future transatlantic flights - a dream that's still far away, new flights from Charleroi to Prague Bucharest and Budapest, rotation times in Brussels = 25 minutes but longer taxiing, very encouraging numbers of business passengers, etc.)
Today's morning flight to Dublin had 170 passengers, many of whom were surprised to get a free breakfast. The rotation time is 25 minutes, and therefore the plane is not docked at a B gate, but it is stationed with the other Ryanair aircraft and passengers are bussed from one of the gates B80-B94 (on the ground floor) to that position.
Pictures of the inauguration:
- Breakfast ready at gate B94 for the passengers and the guests
- The scissors for the inauguration ceremony
- Cutting the ribbon, from left to right: Leon Verhallen (Brussels Airport), Danielle Neyts (Tourism Ireland representative in Belgium), Eamonn Mac Aodha (Ambassador of Ireland in Belgium), Yann Delomez (marketing manager of Ryanair for Belgium, France and Morocco)
- Passengers enjoying breakfast
- Today's morning flight announcement