Brussels Airlines in 2024

[DannyVDB]

On the long haul SN is covering sub Saharan Africa. By any means, these are not premium markets and high yield destinations. In most of the group companies, if flown, such destinations are part of the leisure offering of certain subbrands.

And having said that yes, SN is not a premium brand. It does not offer nor has a planned offering eg for First Class on long haul. It does not fly with 50-60 Business seats in each A333 and so on. That's reality.

But, business class is doing good on long haul.

(...) But to have a bigger, more seats available in Business would bring much more money in. Business class is the milk cow of the plane.

(...) Why not even in the future some new destinations in The States? Boston, Houston or SF

Do you have figures for your statement? And what is 'doing good'? The only thing I can say is that whenever I was flying them (IAD, JFK, YYZ), business class was not full at all. And it is small. So why expanding if you can even not fill the current seats?

Moreover, the business class are sometimes relatively cheap (as compared to LH, Swiss ...)

Totally different at LH where often business was overbooked (even on their A380, e.g. to SIN). But again I am just speaking personal experience, which is of course limited.

At the end of the day you offer what you can sell, and in the Belgian markets that is not a lot (of business). We tend to want everything, preferably 'for free', and even then many of us 'complain'

Finally, IMHO there are also not big differences in the products, quality-wise.

On a side-note: regarding the wifi. In my recent flights I had several times wifi available. Hardly anyone using it

Cheers,
Danny

[fcw]

Star was not the only alliance.

Qualiflyer was another one. So good that the high flyers of it ended up as LH subsidiaries.

Not at all, Qualiflyer disappeared when Swissair and Sabena went bankrupt 22 years ago!

You didn't got the irony?

The grass is not greener somewhere else.

Your irony doesn’t make any sense as Swissair and Sabena are not members of Star.
I agree with the greener grass though, in SN’s case there wasn’t/isn’t even any grass outside the Lufthansa group. However, Lufthansa is not keeping SN alive because it’s a great company with a bright future. They are only protecting their back yard from the Franco-Dutch and British competitors and are trying to do so at the lowest possible cost..

[luchtzak]

It’s premium economy that makes the profit nowadays.

[luchtzak]

On a side note: please check if you correctly published your message, I have an old forum topic with some explanations about quote / unquote

viewtopic.php?p=95100&sid=2610c7c19c9d5 ... a72#p95100

[lumumba]

About the wi-fi discussion it is important especially on long haul knowing that they are also day flights I find that it's missing very hard and it is really not a luxury anymore!
From Luanda it's only Brussel Airlines and RAM flying without WiFi.

[oldblueeyes]

About the wi-fi discussion it is important especially on long haul knowing that they are also day flights I find that it's missing very hard and it is really not a luxury anymore!
From Luanda it's only Brussel Airlines and RAM flying without WiFi.

The reasonable question is : what is the economical decision in the product cycle?

- the current A330 fleet is leased and should be replaced somewhere around 2030
- overall for both Austrian and Brussels a product/cabin configuration upgrade is planned - official statement "with a standard product"
- so likely that such an investment would have a pretty small commercial life cycle or shall come with a new cabin
- and than of course it is the overall valid question: what is anticipated revenue on such routes and would ensure a better rentability than eg investing into new 320NEO's?

Each EUR can be spent 1 time and without being rude, it is likely that the public travelling on these routes being a core buyers group for Lebara and co in Europe would unlikely spend in mass money for WIFI on an airplane.

[lumumba]

About the wi-fi discussion it is important especially on long haul knowing that they are also day flights I find that it's missing very hard and it is really not a luxury anymore!
From Luanda it's only Brussel Airlines and RAM flying without WiFi.

The reasonable question is : what is the economical decision in the product cycle?

- the current A330 fleet is leased and should be replaced somewhere around 2030
- overall for both Austrian and Brussels a product/cabin configuration upgrade is planned - official statement "with a standard product"
- so likely that such an investment would have a pretty small commercial life cycle or shall come with a new cabin
- and than of course it is the overall valid question: what is anticipated revenue on such routes and would ensure a better rentability than eg investing into new 320NEO's?

Each EUR can be spent 1 time and without being rude, it is likely that the public travelling on these routes being a core buyers group for Lebara and co in Europe would unlikely spend in mass money for WIFI on an airplane.

Are you sure these planes are leased because I thought Brussel Airlines bought them?

And if that is the case they can easily fly 10 to 15 more years.

I also thought that it was an external company that took care of the investment placement and exploitation.

[sn26567]

About the wi-fi discussion it is important especially on long haul knowing that they are also day flights I find that it's missing very hard and it is really not a luxury anymore!
From Luanda it's only Brussel Airlines and RAM flying without WiFi.

The reasonable question is : what is the economical decision in the product cycle?

- the current A330 fleet is leased and should be replaced somewhere around 2030
- overall for both Austrian and Brussels a product/cabin configuration upgrade is planned - official statement "with a standard product"
- so likely that such an investment would have a pretty small commercial life cycle or shall come with a new cabin
- and than of course it is the overall valid question: what is anticipated revenue on such routes and would ensure a better rentability than eg investing into new 320NEO's?

Each EUR can be spent 1 time and without being rude, it is likely that the public travelling on these routes being a core buyers group for Lebara and co in Europe would unlikely spend in mass money for WIFI on an airplane.

I asked the PR dept of Brussels Airlines why the Belgian carrier was left out of the Wi-Fi programme. Here is the reply of their spokesperson Joëlle Neeb:

"We are thinking about it and it goes without saying that we will use the synergies and expertise of the LH Group for the implementation. However, no timetable has yet been set - much depends on technological developments when it comes to providing a reliable service on all our long-haul flights.
Without losing sight of the Wi-Fi subject, we are currently focusing on other investments, such as modernising our fleet and improving our product and service offering (Lounge, Catering C/Class, Digitisation, Chatbot,... )."

It's thus a problem of priorities, and Wi-Fi is clearly not a priority for SN

[DeltaWiskey]

Regarding the wifi, there is currently no provider that can offer reliable service above mid and west Africa. Since this is where the majority of SN longhaul is, it's been decided to focus on other topics for now. There is no point in investing a lot of money in infrastructure and only use it 30% of the time.

[lumumba]

Regarding the wifi, there is currently no provider that can offer reliable service above mid and west Africa. Since this is where the majority of SN longhaul is, it's been decided to focus on other topics for now. There is no point in investing a lot of money in infrastructure and only use it 30% of the time.

That's strange because I use it to Central Africa with TAP and Lufthansa without problem all the flight!!!!!

[Darjeeling]

OO-SFF stuck in Bujumbura, and it'll take time to repair...

[Duke]

It's thus a problem of priorities, and Wi-Fi is clearly not a priority for SN

Thanks for the info...
Now we have the proof that SN is not considered an equal partner of the LH group as SR and AU...
SN is clearly the low cost airline... but with almost the same fares as the other airlines...
Even on a medium flights, like AGP, but also on flights to TLV (if ever they restart...), wifi is clearly an advantage...
Really a pity that the SN customers are not offered this service...
Regards,

Duke

[JOVAN2]

It's thus a problem of priorities, and Wi-Fi is clearly not a priority for SN

Thanks for the info...
Now we have the proof that SN is not considered an equal partner of the LH group as SR and AU...
SN is clearly the low cost airline... but with almost the same fares as the other airlines...
Even on a medium flights, like AGP, but also on flights to TLV (if ever they restart...), wifi is clearly an advantage...
Really a pity that the SN customers are not offered this service...
Regards,

Duke

Once underdog, always underdog ???

[luchtzak]

OO-SFF stuck in Bujumbura, and it'll take time to repair...

What is the problem ?

[Boavida]

If the ITA deal gets approved and ITA joins the LH 'family', maybe they could sell their unwanted and unloved child (SN) ?

SN could find a better home within IAG...

[lumumba]

If the ITA deal gets approved and ITA joins the LH 'family', maybe they could sell their unwanted and unloved child (SN) ?

SN could find a better home within IAG...

I was thinking the same maybe they will be forced to sell to receive the autorisation to buy ITA?

[longwings]

I was thinking the same maybe they will be forced to sell to receive the autorisation to buy ITA?

Lufthansa will fight tooth and nail to keep Brussels Airlines, not because it is so valuable (though it is, to a point), but because giving it up would be inviting IAG to their backyard.

[crew1990]

Brussels Airlines will extend the business class product to the full network from 1st february. So far, some of the leisure flights was exclusively bookable in economy class.

[convair]

OO-SFF stuck in Bujumbura, and it'll take time to repair...

What is the problem ?

Just guessing: SN465's (SFG) diversion to BJM today might (!?) indicate it's bringing a piece of equipment; maybe a replacement engine following a bird strike.

[lumumba]

Coming back tomorrow has SN9905 normally.