Brussels Airlinesย notes a high demand for sunny destinations during the Easterย holidays and expects this to only increase due to a large number of last-minute bookings. During the upcoming school holidays , the airline offersย 80% of its European vacation offer compared to 2019. Across the total network, Brussels Airlines offers 75% of its 2019 capacity. It is also notable that Belgians are departing earlier and returning later than before.
Brussels Airlines is gearing up for a busy Easter vacation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the focus is more than ever on leisure flights, as that segment rose sharply relative to business flights. The Belgian home carrier offers 85% of its 2019 leisure offer in Europe.The most popular destinations during the Easter holidays are located in the South of Europe. The top 5 is headed by Malaga, followed by Rome, Lisbon and Madrid. New to the top 5 this year is Copenhagen.On the Brussels Airlines intercontinental network, the more touristic destinations are doing well as well as the popular Kinshasa in the VFR (visit friends and relatives) segment. At the top of touristic intercontinental destinations is New York, followed by Dakar (Senegal), Douala (Cameroon) and Entebbe (Uganda). The airline will offer 82% of its 2019 long-haul capacity during the upcoming holidays.
15 destinations return to the Brussels Airlines network as of March 27: Washington in the United States and a host of popular leisure destinations in Europe, including Athens, Naples, Florence, Catania, Marrakesh, Palermo, Bari and Palma de Mallorca.
Brussels Airlines is still expecting a large number of last-minute reservations. As was the case for the carnival holidays, the airline estimates that two-thirds of passengers only book their trip in the last 6 weeks before departure. As a result, early deciders benefit from the cheapest fares relatively longer.
“In addition to the last-minute reservation trend that we have been noticing for two years, we also see that departing on Thursdays and returning on Mondays has become remarkably more popular.ย It seems that the โnew way of workingโ as a result from the Pandemic has led to more flexibility for employees in managing their work-life balanceโ
ย ย Tom Maes,ย Head of Commercial Steering at Brussels Airlines
All fares at Brussels Airlines can still be rebooked, although the airline notices that there is less demand for this.
Towards the summer school holidays, Brussels Airlines also expects a high demand for leisure flights.
Top Copyright Photo: Brussels Airlines Airbus A319-111 OO-SSX (msn 2260) BLQ (Marco Finelli). Image: 957068.
COVID-19 pandemic still heavily impacted the airlineโs EBIT
In line with expectations due to the Covid-19 crisis, Brussels Airlines booked a loss of EUR 189 million in the financial year 2021, an improvement of 35% versus the previous year.
Losses limited thanks to successful Reboot Plus transformation plan and strict cash management.
Revenue up by 35% to 560 million, while operating expenses were only up by 5%
Passenger numbers rose by 47% to 3.5 million.
Growth in 2022 in terms of network, fleet and people
2021 was another year marked by the Covid pandemic and a year that still required a high level of resilience. The year started with a very limited flight schedule, in line with the low market demand due to high infection rates and lockdowns all over Europe, followed by a three-month travel ban issued by the Belgian government. This travel ban heavily impacted Brussels Airlinesโ first quarter.
On 19 April, the travel ban was lifted and demand started to pick up again, while the vaccination campaign was also gaining velocity. What followed was a rapid increase in demand towards the summer. Brussels Airlines restarted full hub operations in June and built up its capacity from 12% to 53% of pre-pandemic levels towards the summer. The summer demand lasted longer than other years due to the effect of postponed travel plans and the desire to travel after the lockdown. This strong and prolonged summer peak led to a positive third quarter and the first profit since the beginning of the pandemic. November came with rising infection numbers and again many restrictions, causing the demand to decrease once more. The end-of-year holiday showed a strong travel peak, before returning to a lower winter demand due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
After the restructuring phase of the Reboot Plus plan and the numerous changes undertaken, in November 2021 Brussels Airlines presented a new branding to strengthen its Belgian identity and to mark a new start after the coronavirus crisis. The new branding was an important signal towards the market that the airline is here to stay. As additional symbol for its future-readiness the decision was taken in June 2021 to add ย three Airbus A320neos to the Brussels Airlines fleet in summer 2023. With these new state-of-the-art aircraft and by retiring three older A319s, Brussels Airlines takes a significant step to the further modernization of its fleet and reduces carbon and noise emissions in its medium-haul network.
In the whole of 2021, the demand on the African network was again very resilient, mainly thanks to the business and VFR segments (Visiting Friends and Relatives), while the European segment was more volatile. All in all, the full-year capacity (Available seat-kilometres) was 62% higher than in 2020 and Brussels Airlines operated 39% more flights, welcoming 3.5 million passengers (+47%).
The passenger load factor was 1.1 percentage points lower than the previous yearโs level, at 67.2% (previous year: 68.3%). Yields fell by 6.9% after adjusting for exchange rates. Traffic revenue increased with the expansion of traffic by 31% to EUR 503m (previous year: EUR 384m).
Revenue rose by 35% to EUR 560m(previous year: EUR 414m). Operating income rose by 31% to EUR 599m (previous year: EUR 456m). The Reboot Pluscost savings measures and strict cost discipline limited the increase in operating costs. At EUR 788m, they were only up 5% on the previous year. Higher fuel costs (+62%) due to increased prices and volumes as well as higher fees and charges due to volumes (+55%) were partially countered by lower staff costs (โ17%).
In the 2021 financial year, Adjusted EBIT at Brussels Airlines was at EUR โ189m (previous year: EUR โ293m). The Adjusted EBIT margin was โ33.8% (previous year: โ70.8%). The EBIT was also at EUR โ189m (previous year: EUR โ332m). The previous yearโs value was adversely affected by write-downs on the fleet totalling EUR 33m.
2021 key figures
Brussels Airlines successfully completed its Reboot Plus restructuring, creating a competitive cost basis for a profitable future
Brussels Airlines intensified its restructuring programme in response to the pandemic. โReboot Plusโ forms the basis for the airlineโs sustainable future. As part of the programme, Brussels Airlines completed the restructuring phase. Two Airbus A330s left the long-haul fleet, and eight A320 family aircraft were removed from the short- and medium-haul fleets. The number of employees was reduced by more than 20% compared to the pre-pandemic level. Since January 2021, new collective labour agreements have been in place with all employee groups at Brussels Airlines to enable competitive staff costs. In 2021, the transformation plan entered a new phase, the phase of improvement and investment into technologies and simplification, to gain efficiency.
“This year we focused on the second phase of Reboot Plus, the improvement phase. We have been building the New Brussels Airlines. Our rebranding was a very visible symbol hereof, while behind the scenes we invested in a new crew scheduling tool, in our renewed office space and in a multitude of projects that either bring efficiency gains or simplification in our processes. I want to thank all Brussels Airlines employees for the achievements last year. Together we are building a bright future for our company.โ
– Peter Gerber, CEO Brussels Airlines
Outlook 2022
Brussels Airlines will gradually increase its capacity to reach 80% of its 2019 levels by July, reinforcing its position as the home carrier of Belgium with a strong focus on leisure and reinforcing its position in Africa thanks to the 9th aircraft. For the entire year, the airline plans to operate 74% of its 2019 capacity levels.
“We have had some difficult winter months due to the Omicron wave, but we see a promising spring and summer in terms of demand. As travel regulations will dissipate and measures will be eased all around Europe, we foresee a return to 80% capacity of our pre-pandemic levels in the summer holidays. Cost-consciousness remains part of our DNA in order to reach structural profitability. In that respect, our plans remain unchanged: we aim for a black zero in 2022 and we remain committed to reaching 8% EBIT in 2024, under unchanged circumstances. Thanks to the successful implementation of our Reboot Plus plan, we have created the right foundation to grow and to look ahead to a profitable future.โ
Brussels Airlines strengthens its market position in West Africa
In November 2021, it was decided to expand the long-haul fleet of Brussels Airlines with a ninth A330. With the additional capacity, Brussels Airlines will restart its route to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Conakry, Guinea, and increase the frequencies of its existing West African routes in 2022.
More growth was announced this week for 2022, as two aircraft will reinforce the summer operations at Brussels Airlines, allowing Brussels Airlines to reinforce its position as Belgiumโs home carrier. To fuel this growth, Brussels Airlines announced earlier that it is hiring 288 people in all departments of the company.
In other news,ย Brussels Airlines has decided to add two aircraft to its medium haul fleet this summer season. This growth comes earlier than foreseen in its transformation plan (and state loan agreement) as it sees an opportunity in the increasing demand for summer. With one extra Airbus 319 and one extra A320, Brussels Airlines wants to cater to the high demand for leisure travel and defend its position in the market as Belgiumโs home carrier.
On the European network, Brussels Airlines noted a significant increase in leisure demand for summer: 75% more requests from tour operators, 140% more requests for charter business compared to 2020, and the expectation that this touristic demand will even further increase leading up to the summer.
Within the scope of Reboot Plus, Brussels Airlines rightsized its short- and medium haul fleet from 42 aircraft in 2019 to 30 in 2020. With especially touristic markets recovering quicker than initially forecasted, the airline decided to expand its capacity to reap this additional summer demand: The lease of one A319 will therefore be extended to October 2022 and the phase in of one A320 will be advanced to June 2022 in order to offer 80% of the 2019 summer production.
โWe see clear signals that this crisis is slowly but surely coming to an end. The leisure segment in the market recovered more quickly than originally expected and we also see a slow but steady increase in the demand for corporate travel. By 2024 we should again reach the level of 2019 if it comes to the demand in the business travel segment. This is definitely the right time to increase our market share and once again confirm our position as Belgiumโs home carrier.โ
Peter Gerber, CEO Brussels Airlines
This fleet expansion will give the companyโs pilots, who currently have a parttime contract as was foreseen in its transformation plan in 2020 in order to keep all pilots on board, the possibility to return to a full-time working regime two years earlier than foreseen. On the cabin crew side, recruitments are ongoing. As it was promised in 2020, Brussels Airlines first contacted its ex-colleagues who did not see their contract prolonged that year due to the pandemic and the Reboot Plus program. 135 out of the 165 colleagues who were asked to return have accepted to work again for Brussels Airlines.
In December, Brussels Airlines already announced growth on its intercontinental sector, especially in Africa, thanks to a 9th A330ย aircraft. This additional plane allows Brussels Airlines to increase frequencies to several of its destinations in Sub Sahara Africa and to resume its flights to Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Conakry (Guinรฉe), which were discontinued in 2020.
This coming summer season, starting on March 27, 2022, Brussels Airlines will offer 85 destinations, with a focus on leisure.
Newcomers in the airlineโs summer portfolio compared to last year are Arecife (Lanzarote), Chania (Crete), Hurghada (Egypt), Mytilene (Lesbos), Samos, Marrakesh ( Morocco), Rabat (Morocco) and Munich.
After a winter which was still heavily impacted by the global pandemic, Brussels Airlines predicts a very busy summer season.
โThe booking figures clearly show a great willingness to travel. Compared to the summer of 2021, we also see that passengers start to book longer in advance again, especially for the school holiday periods. Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Greek Islands are expected to be the most popular destinations this summer season. Thatโs why we are happy to add the islands Lesbos and Samos in Greece to our network, but also Lanzarote and Crete will be an added value in our vacation portfolio.โ
Jan Derycke, Head of Network and Planning Brussels Airlines66 Medium haul destinations with focus on leisure travel
With a broad range of popular holiday destinations, the Belgian company wants to provide its customers a positive outlook for the coming summer. On top of the year-round destinations like Alicante, Madrid, Lisbon, Milano, Rome and many more, the airline relaunches a series of summer holiday destinations:
In Greece, Athens and Greek islandsย Crete (Heraklion and Chania), Cos, Rhodes, Corfu, Zakynthos, Lesbos and Samos will again be connected to Brussels. In Italy the airline will land again in Bari, Catania, Florence, Napoli, Olbia and Palermo. Spanish leisure routes Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca will join the network while flights to the Canary islands Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote will be continued from the winter season. Brussels Airlines will also start flying to Croatian destinations Dubrovnik and Split again as well as to Russian destinations Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. The Egyptian destination Hurghada will be continued after winter and also Marrakesh in Morocco will join the summer schedule. During the peak season, Moroccan destinations Tangier, Rabat and Nador will be connected to Brussels too.
19 long haul destinations with the restart of Washington
On the intercontinental network, Brussels Airlines will reopen Conakry (Guinea) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in Africa and will resume flights to Washington D.C. during the summer season. In total, the Belgian airline offers 19 long haul destinations, including 17 in Sub Sahara Africa and 2 in the US (New York and Washington).
New route Brussels โ Munich
For the first time, Brussels Airlines will operate flights between Brussels and Munich. The Belgian airline will operate two flights a day, while Lufthansa continues to operate 5 daily frequencies. The first Brussels Airlines flight to Munich will take off on March 27, 2022.
Brussels Airlines flight SN2899 from Brussels to Yerevan with Airbus A320 OO-SNN on December 28, 2021 was struck by lightning over Luxembourg and was forced to return to BRU.
On June 11, 2022, West-Africanย destinationsย Conakry and Ouagadougou, previously closed in 2020ย due toย the COVID-19 crisis, will be reopened. Flightsย to Ouagadougouย (flight number SN255)ย will beย offeredย on Mondays,ย Thursdaysย and Saturdays,ย departingย in Brusselsย atย 11.05 GMT with a scheduled arrival at 15.05ย GMT in Ouagadougou airport.ย Flights from Ouagadougou to Brusselsย Airportย (SN256)ย leave on the same days, at 21.30 GMT to arrive in Brussels the following morning at 05.05, offering connecting possibilities to the airlineโs network in Europeย and theย U.S.
The first flight to Conakry is scheduled on Saturday, June 11, 2022 as well, with flight number SN205. SN205 from Brussels to Conakry will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with a departure at 11.00 GMT. SN206 from Conakry to Brussels will leave on the same days at 18.50 GMT and is scheduled to arrive in Brussels at 05.05 GMT, offering connection options to the entire Brussels Airlines network.
Expansion in Westย andย Eastย Africa
Next to the addition of Conakry and Ouagadougou to the Brussels Airlines networkย in West Africa, flight frequencies to Banjul, Lomรฉ and Monrovia will increaseย this summer toย fiveย flights for each of theseย routes.ย Frequencies to East African destinations Entebbe and Kigali will beย expandedย toย respectivelyย sevenย andย fiveย times weekly.
Daily to theย United States
As ofย mid-June, Brussels Airlines will fly daily to New York, after connecting theย East Coastย destination 4 times weekly in 2021. Flights to Washington D.C. willย be operatedย fiveย times weeklyย during the summer season, allowing connections betweenย Africa and the USย via Brussels Airport.
As planned, today, Brussels Airlines made this announcement:
Today, Brussels Airlines presents a new brand identity, confirming its position in the market as Belgiumโs home carrier. Updated colors, a new logo and aircraft livery are the visual token of the airlineโs new chapter, stating its readiness for future challenges and re-emphasizing on the importance of the Belgian brand. A chapter with a strong focus on customer experience, reliability and sustainability while keeping a competitive cost-structure.
As a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis, Brussels Airlines accelerated and intensified in 2020 its transformation plan Reboot Plus, in order to pave the way for a future-proof company that is able to face the competition, with a sound and healthy cost structure.
After the restructuring, the company startedย theย second phase of its Rebootย Plusย plan: the build-up and improvement phase. Brussels Airlines now turns its attention toย theย futureย withย strategic investmentsย inย an improved customer experience, new technologies, digitization, new ways of working, and the development of its employees.
The Belgian company is transforming to become a healthy, profitable airline that offers perspectives to its customers, partners and employees; an airline with a constant focus on the environment and the reduction of its ecological footprint. A New Brussels Airlines.
โWe want to clearly mark the start of the New Brussels Airlines. For our customers, who deserve the best, but also for our employees, who are committed to the transformation that weโre pushing forward and to which they contribute every day. That is why today we present the visual translation of our new start. With this new brand identity, we are ready to show our customers, our employees, our partners and all other stakeholders that we are turning a page. As one of the four Lufthansa Group network airlines, we are building the way towards a promising future. ย We see this new brand identity as a symbol of confidence in our company, re-emphasizing our identity as Belgiumโs home carrier.โ
โย Peter Gerber, CEO of Brussels Airlines
The new brand identity includes a new version of the Brussels Airlines signature red and blue colors, now a deeper red and a darker shade of blue. The dotted โbโ, which today adorns the tails of its fleet, makes way for 9 dots of different sizes in the form of a square, to represent the diversity of its customers, its destinations and its employees. No dot is alike. The updated logo also makes use of a new, more modern type font. The two words of the brand name are now stacked, with the word โbrusselsโ gaining more importance with its larger size to emphasize the airlineโs Belgian identity. The new aircraft livery, shows a zoom on the dotted logo on the tails, a fresh white body and a continuation of dots in different shades of blue and grey.
Next to the new visual identity, the new brand identity also translates into a new tagline: โYouโre in good companyโ.โWe have chosen for a tagline that underlines our most valuable asset; the hospitality brought to our passengers by our incredible staff. Their way of working, on and behind the scenes, ensures that our passengers are in good hands. By committing to transparency, by investing in a greener and more comfortable fleet, by being 24/7 available and by making sure that our passengers sit together without an extra charge, we want to offer our customers what really matters to them. No small print, just common sense.โ
– Michel Moriaux, Head of Marketing at Brussels Airlines
โI wish to sincerely thank all the Brussels Airlines colleagues who have contributed in any way to todayโs important milestone in our history. While going for a New Brussels Airlines, our focus on cost and sustainability remains of utmost importance to us. To avoid creating waste and high production costs, our new brand identity will be implemented in a phased approach. Our aircraft will for instance not be repainted before their painting due date, as to not waste money, resources, nor paint. As a consequence, the repainting of the fleet will take several years. This also means that you will still bump into our โoldโ branding, as we commit ourselves to using resources until they are depleted or have reached their expiry date.โ
– Wencke Lemmes,ย Head of Customer Experience, Product and Marketing at Brussels Airlines
Thanks to a summer with high leisure demand and a competitive cost structure resulting from its restructuring program, Brussels Airlines reports an Adjusted EBIT of EUR 1 million in the third quarter of the year (previous year: EUR โ 51 million). For the first nine months of the year, the airline reports a 12% revenue increase year on year and an operating expense decrease of 10%. The Adjusted EBIT in the January-September period improved by 39% to -142 million, a result that is still heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brussels Airlines’ revenue in the first nine months of the reporting year rose by 12% year on year to EUR 380m (previous year: EUR 339m), while operating income was 7% higher than last year at EUR 402m (previous year: EUR 374m).
Operating expenses decreased by 10% to EUR 544 million (previous year: EUR 607 million) due to lower personnel expenses and expenses for external technical services as well as further effects of its successful restructuring program Reboot Plus.
Adjusted EBIT in the first nine months was EUR -142 million (previous year: EUR -233 million); EBIT in the reporting period was also EUR -142 million (previous year: EUR -256 million), with the previous year’s figure burdened by impairment losses on aircraft and rights of use for aircraft amounting to EUR 31 million.
Brussels Airlines closed the third quarter with an Adjusted EBIT of EUR 1 million, compared to EUR -51 million in the same period last year. In June 2021, Brussels Airlines restarted its hub structure and significantly increased its offer during the summer months in response to the increased market demand. The summer peak, which traditionally ends beginning of September, lasted much longer this year due to a catchup effect.
Within its Reboot Plus transformation program, Brussels Airlines has almost completed the restructuring phase which reduces the fleet size by 30% and the workforce by 25%. Among other additional measures in this program, new collective labor agreements have been in force since January 2021 for all employee groups, generating a competitive cost structure at the level of the personnel costs. Brussels Airlines in the meantime has started the second phase of Reboot Plus, which is the improvement phase, in order to create a sustainable and profitable future for the company. This phase includes investments in people, in tools to improve process efficiency and in the renewal of its fleet. In that respect 3 A320 Neo will join Brussels Airlinesโ fleet by summer 2023. These state-of-the-art aircraft, with significantly lower CO2 and noise emissions, will replace three older A319 aircraft. Modernizing the fleet is crucial for Brussels Airlines in order to reach its ย target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Top Copyright Photo: Brussels Airlines Airbus A330-342 OO-SFD (msn 959) LHR (Richard Vandervord). Image: 955737.
Brussels Airlines and the Royal Belgian Football Association (RFBA) have renewed their partnership, confirming that Brussels Airlines will be the official airline of both the Belgian Red Devils and the Red Flames for the coming three years, departingย from Brussels Airport. Brussels Airlines and Brussels Airport will do their utmost to ensure comfortable and efficient transport to the international matches and tournaments of both teams.
The biggest highlights will be the World Cup in Qatar for the Belgian Red Devils and the European championships in England for the Red Flames. Next to these tournaments, the teams will also fly with Brussels Airlines out of Brussels Airport to the European Championships in Germany in 2024 and to the qualification games for all their tournaments. Also the national youth teams, scouters and referees will count on Brussels Airlines for their international travels.
Brussels Airlines was already the official airline of the Belgian Red Devils since 2014, and is proud to now also call itself the national airline of the womenโs team, the Red Flames.
66 Medium haul destinations with focus on leisure travel
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