Brussels Airlines' fleet renewal

[nordikcam]

Currently 5 planes are in maintenance (in different places), 1 is 'on the ground' due to technical reasons (in Abidjan)

Cheers,
Danny

Does anyone know when the plane stuck in Abidjan will return @ BRU ? Thx

[Delta Sierra]

At this moment not before the 25th of December.

[sn26567]

The Lufthansa Group just made a large order for short- and medium-haul aircraft:

• 40 Airbus A220-300s and 20 more options
• 40 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and 60 more options
• 40 options for A320neo family aircraft

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/luft ... more-maxs/

They made it already clear that the A220s would go to the new City Airlines subsidiary, flying from Frankfurt and Munich as feeder aircraft for long-haul. The A320s will be for the whole group to replace older models.

But they also said that the MAXs would not be for Lufthansa, Swiss and City. Thus, they might go to Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings (and maybe ITA...).

As I see it, at SN those aircraft could well be ideal for tourist destinations (the seats are narrower than in the A320): the Spanish costas, the Canary Islands, Greece, Croatia. Any other opinions?

[Atlantis]

The Lufthansa Group just made a large order for short- and medium-haul aircraft:

• 40 Airbus A220-300s and 20 more options
• 40 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and 60 more options
• 40 options for A320neo family aircraft

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/luft ... more-maxs/

They made it already clear that the A220s would go to the new City Airlines subsidiary, flying from Frankfurt and Munich as feeder aircraft for long-haul. The A320s will be for the whole group to replace older models.

But they also said that the MAXs would not be for Lufthansa, Swiss and City. Thus, they might go to Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings (and maybe ITA...).

As I see it, at SN those aircraft could well be ideal for tourist destinations (the seats are narrower than in the A320): the Spanish costas, the Canary Islands, Greece, Croatia. Any other opinions?

To have a mixed fleet again like it was in the very past? But maybe in the longer perspective to replace the old A330 by B787.

[oldblueeyes]

There are no 320orders yet, just options.

The 220 are replacing a bunch of ageing 319 - there are 13 at LH mainline plus 7 at Cityline all well above 25y and some at Eurowings are leased and could be replaced by others from the mainline.

737 may be a logic move for Austrian - the need to replace 16x320 and 6x321 between 2026-2032 and have 41 A320fam in the fleet right now.

[crew1990]

OO-SBB coming home tomoro. Operation should start end january

[sn26567]

OO-SBB coming home tomoro. Operation should start end january

After a painting job, I guess!

[DannyVDB]

Do we know which special livery it will get, or is this still a 'surprise'?
D

[crew1990]

OO-SBB coming home tomoro. Operation should start end january

After a painting job, I guess!

No the aircraft will be kept white untill April and then will be painted... stay tuned...

[Boeing767copilot]

OO-SBB coming home tomoro. Operation should start end january

After a painting job, I guess!

No the aircraft will be kept white untill April and then will be painted... stay tuned...

In the New Tomorrowland livery

[HQ_BRU_Lover]

OO-SBB just landed 25R, saw it passing by in it's shiny all white livery taxiing towards TUI/SN hangars

[skumfiduse]

Meanwhile, not only maintenance but also the repainting process is in full swing as it seems. Only 3 A319 left in the old livery. Will they all get a repaint or are they on their way out? Furthermore 6 A320 and 7 A330 still flying around in the old livery, Eurowings included. Any of the regular painted A320 on their way out? What takes them so long to redo the Eurowings birds

[oldblueeyes]

Paint Jobs are done when needed.

And the Eurowings livery may be also a reminder of the local brand strategy: budget P2P airline with a little bit of long haut.

[Duke]

Why has OO-SBA been deployed on short routes till now (CDG, LHR, MUC, FRA,..., mostly routes less than 1 hour..; except BCN)?
Is this for crew familiarisation?
As the engines on the 320neo are more economic than those on the 320ceo, I would have expected to see the neo on longer routes of 2 hours and more (AGP, and charter routes, such as TFS, GCA, etc...). On those longer routes, the more economici engines would make a bigger difference than on the (very) short routes, where the advantages are more marginal?
TUI uses the 737Max mostly on longer routes, such as the Canary Islands, Sal, Banjul, Dakar, Egypot,...

Best regards,
Duke

[Boeing767copilot]

Why has OO-SBA been deployed on short routes till now (CDG, LHR, MUC, FRA,..., mostly routes less than 1 hour..; except BCN)?
Is this for crew familiarisation?
As the engines on the 320neo are more economic than those on the 320ceo, I would have expected to see the neo on longer routes of 2 hours and more (AGP, and charter routes, such as TFS, GCA, etc...). On those longer routes, the more economici engines would make a bigger difference than on the (very) short routes, where the advantages are more marginal?
TUI uses the 737Max mostly on longer routes, such as the Canary Islands, Sal, Banjul, Dakar, Egypot,...

Best regards,
Duke

Discount on expensive airport taxes in LHR, CDG, and others for sustainable aircraft such as the NEO

[oldblueeyes]

@duke

The main reason for allocating brand new aircraft to the brands that actually can't afford them is as decribed the cost of opportunity - taxes at certain major airports.

[longwings]

Why has OO-SBA been deployed on short routes till now (CDG, LHR, MUC, FRA,..., mostly routes less than 1 hour..; except BCN)?
Is this for crew familiarisation?
As the engines on the 320neo are more economic than those on the 320ceo, I would have expected to see the neo on longer routes of 2 hours and more (AGP, and charter routes, such as TFS, GCA, etc...). On those longer routes, the more economici engines would make a bigger difference than on the (very) short routes, where the advantages are more marginal?
TUI uses the 737Max mostly on longer routes, such as the Canary Islands, Sal, Banjul, Dakar, Egypot,...

Best regards,
Duke

Discount on expensive airport taxes in LHR, CDG, and others for sustainable aircraft such as the NEO

The discount is probably a lucky coincidence. It is typical of airlines introducing a new type to keep them close to home. Probably still going through crew familiarization training (cabin, cockpit, and ground) and you can get more crew doing the job each day when you operate short hops as opposed to one or two longer flights. Recall the many European airlines using their first 787s on intra-EU flights usually operated by 737s and A320s for the same reasons.

Spare parts availability also comes into play sometimes. New aircraft can have teething problems, so they tend to stay either close to the parts store, or fly where the parts are available. Less a concern with the NEO vs Classic, but not altogether negligible.

[Lux_avi]

The discount is probably a lucky coincidence. It is typical of airlines introducing a new type to keep them close to home. Probably still going through crew familiarization training (cabin, cockpit, and ground) and you can get more crew doing the job each day when you operate short hops as opposed to one or two longer flights. Recall the many European airlines using their first 787s on intra-EU flights usually operated by 737s and A320s for the same reasons.

Spare parts availability also comes into play sometimes. New aircraft can have teething problems, so they tend to stay either close to the parts store, or fly where the parts are available. Less a concern with the NEO vs Classic, but not altogether negligible.

Not a coincidence at all, taxes are much cheaper and make it financially more interesting than flying long routes (despite the little win on fuel burn on these shorter routes).

The A320NEO is an A320 with new engines. There is NO crew familiarization required.

[crew1990]

Why has OO-SBA been deployed on short routes till now (CDG, LHR, MUC, FRA,..., mostly routes less than 1 hour..; except BCN)?
Is this for crew familiarisation?
As the engines on the 320neo are more economic than those on the 320ceo, I would have expected to see the neo on longer routes of 2 hours and more (AGP, and charter routes, such as TFS, GCA, etc...). On those longer routes, the more economici engines would make a bigger difference than on the (very) short routes, where the advantages are more marginal?
TUI uses the 737Max mostly on longer routes, such as the Canary Islands, Sal, Banjul, Dakar, Egypot,...

Best regards,
Duke

Discount on expensive airport taxes in LHR, CDG, and others for sustainable aircraft such as the NEO

The discount is probably a lucky coincidence. It is typical of airlines introducing a new type to keep them close to home. Probably still going through crew familiarization training (cabin, cockpit, and ground) and you can get more crew doing the job each day when you operate short hops as opposed to one or two longer flights. Recall the many European airlines using their first 787s on intra-EU flights usually operated by 737s and A320s for the same reasons.

Spare parts availability also comes into play sometimes. New aircraft can have teething problems, so they tend to stay either close to the parts store, or fly where the parts are available. Less a concern with the NEO vs Classic, but not altogether negligible.

Neo's are flying 1 or 2 up and down daily, so no this is absolutely not for crew familiarisation. There is no "familiarisation flight" to be done Neither for cabin crew or pilot. This is purely for cost purpose. This is the one and only reason.

[Atlantis]

Discount on expensive airport taxes in LHR, CDG, and others for sustainable aircraft such as the NEO

The discount is probably a lucky coincidence. It is typical of airlines introducing a new type to keep them close to home. Probably still going through crew familiarization training (cabin, cockpit, and ground) and you can get more crew doing the job each day when you operate short hops as opposed to one or two longer flights. Recall the many European airlines using their first 787s on intra-EU flights usually operated by 737s and A320s for the same reasons.

Spare parts availability also comes into play sometimes. New aircraft can have teething problems, so they tend to stay either close to the parts store, or fly where the parts are available. Less a concern with the NEO vs Classic, but not altogether negligible.

Neo's are flying 1 or 2 up and down daily, so no this is absolutely not for crew familiarisation. There is no "familiarisation flight" to be done Neither for cabin crew or pilot. This is purely for cost purpose. This is the one and only reason.

Only 1 or 2 up and down a day? That's also not in the benefit of the company. Especially on such short routes they can fly more a day.

By reading the comments here it's more bcs of cost reduction on certain airports than using the aircraft where it is build for, less fuel burning