Brussels Airlines' fleet renewal

[crew1990]

No idea, but it really look like there is something coming in the pipeline, because there are some new courses of cabin crew in September and they still now hiring crew!

[convair]

Time to bring back some life into this thread, isn't it? I noticed that SWISS will start to operate 773s nest summer; and Austrian has been getting a few second-hand 772s over the last dew years. LH has a bunch of 77Fs. So why not 777s for SN?
Of course, it would be a totally new type for SN's pilots, but 773s are new to SWISS' pilots as well and 772s might also be quite different from the 767s the pilots of Austrian are used to.
I still think the immediate needs will be fulfilled with 2 or 3 additional A330s, but for the real fleet renewal later on, the game might be very open.
And I don't mean to underestimate the necessary training of cabin crews on a new type, but I'd guess the switch might take less training time for them, or am I wrong?

[RoMax]

I don't know why SN should invest in bigger aircraft at this point. In Africa they don't exactly operate high frequency or even point-to-point operations yet, so lot's of room for growth without the need to invest in bigger aircraft. For the US? Don't think it's needed either, if they would want more capacity to New York for instance, they would be better off with a second daily (preferably to EWR). For others, a daily A333 definitely is enough.

I think SN should go either for the A330neo or maybe for the 787, but I do see the A330-900 as a very capable aircraft for SN. Yes it is based on a early nineties aircraft (not that much older than the T7 btw), but even the current new A330's (especially the -300's) are still very competitive, the -900 with new engines and some other improvements will be a big step forward.

Austrian has been operating the 772 for 10 years already and for a matter of fact, it's an outdated aircraft already. OS adds some because they fit in the fleet, but they wouldn't fit in SN's fleet. The 77W's that Swiss is getting and the new 777X aircraft Lufthansa will get in the future, are all too big for SN.

[Airbus A330]

On which day will OO-SSP operate its last commercial flight?

[convair]

After the publication of the August statistics, the speculations about the fleet have started again, prompted by the "announcement of an announcement" made by tolipanebas on an other thread of this forum. So, here is my take, FWIW (although I'll probably be proven wrong as usual )

For the coming winter season, as the holiday flights will be substantially fewer (which is true also for the charter flights one often forgets about), I believe that SN could do with its current fleet, and even dispose of OO-SSP and of a couple of Avros since they have 2 more A320s than last year. That would be in line with the careful path they have followed so far. Now, if they are moderately ambitious, they might acquire (lease) a couple of A320s, if only to preempt a possible shortage of the type next year.
For next summer season, they should really go ahead with a more ambitious plan. Given the growth in passengers they are enjoying since the beginning of the year, they should normally be out of the red for 2015, provided they didn't sell their tickets too cheap. So I expect a "quantum leap" in the fleet early next year.

[sean1982]

And I don't mean to underestimate the necessary training of cabin crews on a new type, but I'd guess the switch might take less training time for them, or am I wrong?

For cabin crew the training is indeed quite simple (the prepartion however is not). As the SOP's are usually company wide not fleet specific you'd have to cover doors and exits, crew positions, equipment location, evac procedures, communication and an aircraft visit. You would then also have to cover commercial/service differences. I'd say 4-5 days would do

[RoMax]

I might have missed it if it was already mentioned on this forum, but flightglobal reports that SN will scrap OO-LTM and sell parts of it instead of selling it as a whole (or keeping it in the fleet). They give the age of the aircraft as the prime reason to scrap it.

[Bralo20]

I might have missed it if it was already mentioned on this forum, but flightglobal reports that SN will scrap OO-LTM and sell parts of it instead of selling it as a whole (or keeping it in the fleet). They give the age of the aircraft as the prime reason to scrap it.

It's the best thing they can do. Based on the value they acquired it and the actual value in the books (which will be around +/- 850.000 EUR) they can get more value by selling it in parts. There aren't much buyers for 737 classics (hence the low resale prices) but there are still quite a few in service, by parting the plane out they can get the most bang for their buck and probably make a nice profit out of it.

If the engines are current and aren't in need of an overhaul then they shouldn't have much trouble of making a nice profit. The frame itself is nothing more then scrap value but with parting it out they can increase the value and also make an additional profit on the frame.

It's sad to see LTM being scrapped but it's the smart thing to do.

[SFM]

If the engines are current and aren't in need of an overhaul then they shouldn't have much trouble of making a nice profit.

I heard that the engines are not owned by SN but leased, so they will be returned to the lessor.

[KriVa]

I heard that the engines are not owned by SN but leased...

Correct, as far as I know.

[sean1982]

I heard that the engines are not owned by SN but leased...

Correct, as far as I know.

Aaaah that's why the aircraft is only worth 850.000 EUR. Now it makes sense

[JOVAN]

The new flight to BREMEN is with EMBRAER Regional Jet.
According the press release.

Where is SN this plane getting from?? BMI ? FlyBe ?

[convair]

The new flight to BREMEN is with EMBRAER Regional Jet.
According the press release.

Where is SN this plane getting from?? BMI ? FlyBe ?

I think I read somewhere ( on this forum of course ) that it is a BMI wet-leased aircraft.

[sn26567]

it is a BMI wet-leased aircraft.

Indeed!

[sn26567]

After the press conference this morning, I asked Lars Redeligx about the fleet expansion. The Avro RJ100s will be progressively replaced by A319s and A320s (no A321s) until mid-2017. There is currently no decision yet to a an A330, but SN has the ambition to grow in Africa, and a decision might be taken in the coming months.

[lumumba]

So the BIG news that we where waiting for is not for this year....

[crew1990]

Or will be coming soon in another press conference were are in october only

[lumumba]

Or will be coming soon in another press conference were are in october only

...

[nordikcam]

Which one Avro will first leave the fleet and when will it be ?

[brusselsairlinesfan]

So the BIG news that we where waiting for is not for this year....

WE WANT MORE!!!