The airline adapts its flight offer following national governments travel restrictions
Additional flight cancellations in March
Structurally reduced timetable for the month of April (-45%)
Brussels Airlines to adapt its flight offer to and from the US as of 14 March
First economic measures launched for employees across the entire company
Network Updates
Due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the spread of the coronavirus, Brussels Airlines is forced to cancel additional flights for the month of March and to operate a reduced flight schedule in the month of April. With this measure, the Belgian airline adapts her offer to reflect the travel restrictions imposed by many countries around the world, leading also to a severe decline in demand for air travel.
In total, Brussels Airlines reduces its flight offer in March by 35% and in April by 45%.
Following the recent announcement of the US Department of Homeland Security on travel restrictions to the US, Brussels Airlines has no other option than temporarily suspending all its flights to New York JFK as from March 14, 2020 until further notice.
Until further notice, the Belgian airline continues operating its four weekly frequencies to Washington. New York continues to be served by other airlines within the Lufthansa Group, via Frankfurt and Zurich.
Due to government travel restrictions to/from Israel and Italy, Brussels Airlines is forced to temporarily suspend all flights to and from these countries until respectively 28 March and 3 April.
The flight cancellations are being implemented in the booking systems. Passengers whose flight is cancelled will be informed of the changes and rebooking options throughout the day.
Flight schedule adjustments for the period after April 30, 2020 will be decided at a later date with the aim to offer Brussels Airlines guests a reduced, but stable flight plan in the weeks to come.
Economic measures
As a consequence of the dramatic coronavirus outbreak and the reduction of its flight offer, Brussels Airlines launches first economic measures for its personnel to limit the negative financial impact on the company. The Belgian airline launches partial temporary technical unemployment across the entire company as of March 16, 2020.
Further flight reductions in Europe between March 8 and 28
In total, the airline reduces its flight offer within Europe by 23%.
As the overall demand continues to decrease in Italy and in the rest of Europe, the airline is forced to extend the measures and further reduce its flight offer.
Because of the rapidly declining demand in air travel within Europe, Brussels Airlines had already taken the decision to reduce flight frequencies on a number of routes in Italy in order to limit the negative economic impact on its business.ย Next to the already cancelled 30% of its flight frequencies to and from Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa, Venice, Rome, Bologna and Turin between March 2 and 28, the Belgian airline now further reduces its flight offer to and from Italy as well as within the rest of Europe between March 8 and 28. In total, the airline reduces its flight offer within Europe by 23%.
Passengers whose flight is cancelled are being contacted and rebooked on other available flights or they can choose to get a full refund, if they do not wish to travel anymore.
Because of the rapidly declining demand in air travel within Europe, Brussels Airlines has taken the decision to reduce flight frequencies on a number of routes in order to limit the negative economic impact on its business. The Belgian airline notices an overall negative booking trend on nearly all European markets but Northern Italy is the most impacted.
As a result, Brussels Airlines will reduce by 30% the frequency of its flights to Northern Italy for the coming two weeks. It concerns flight to Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa, Rome, Venice and Bologna between March 2-14, 2020.
Passengers whose flight is canceled are being contacted and rebooked on other available flights or they can choose to get a full refund, if they do not wish to travel anymore.
Next to adapting its flight schedule to the declining demand, the Belgian airline is looking into economic measures, such as temporary technical unemployment, and has decided to extend its hiring freeze to the whole company.
Brussels Airlines on November 4, 2019 will start operating flights between Brussels Airport and Ljubljana, Slovenia. The destination will be served 6 times weekly, to respond to leisure and business demand between the two EU capitals.
Ljubljana is Sloveniaโs largest city, and is the 19th EU capital Brussels Airlines adds to its vast network. As of November 4th, the airline will offer 6 flights per week on the route. The flight schedule allows for connections with the rest of the Brussels Airlines network via Brussels Airport. Important connections are mainly Berlin, Copenhagen, Lisbon, London Heathrow, Madrid, Oslo and Tel Aviv.
Flight schedule (in local times)
Ljubljanaย is a creative city, where culture is the way of life. It hosts numerous festivals, from one of the oldest European summer festivals to well-established festivals of jazz, world music and street theater. Due to its strategic location in Europe, Slovenia is home to a very diverse and rich traditional cuisine that makes every foodieโs dreams come true. Must-doโs for foodies is one of the many food tours through the city or a visit to the Ljubljana Central Market
Slovenia’s capital is one of Europe’s greenest and most liveable capitals; it was the European Commission’s Green Capital of Europe in 2016. Car traffic is restricted in the centre, leaving the leafy banks of the emerald-green Ljubljanica River, which flows through the city’s heart, free for pedestrians and cyclists. In summer, cafes set up terrace seating along the river and Ljubljana’s museums and restaurants are among the best in the country.
Ljubljana is also the perfect starting point for a tour through Slovenia, which is popular with hikers and nature lovers for its splendid lakes, caves and breathtaking nature.
Brussels Airlines will operate Airbus A319 on the route.
Brussels Airlines organizes โ for the eighth consecutive year โ party flights to bring festivalgoers from every corner of the globe to Tomorrowland in Boom. 293 flights leave from 77 different airports bringing partygoers with over 100 nationalities to Belgium for 2 weekends of madness.
For the 15th edition of the worldโs best music festival, 400,000 partygoers from over 200 different countries will unite in Boom for two weekends of Tomorrowland, this year in theme of โThe book of wisdom โ the returnโ. In no time, Brussels Airlines sold 13,083 flight packages to partygoers flying to Belgium, adding up to 25,290 Tomorrowland passengers on 293 Tomorrowland flights. 56 flights are transformed into #TMLpartyflight (s)ย with music on board. On eleven other flights, a DJ plays a live set at 30,000 feet. For the first time, the airline also organizes transatlantic party flights, leaving in Washington, where Tomorrowland goers from all over America get together to travel to the festival.
To get the party people in the right atmosphere right from the start of their journey, 16 airports organize a gate party with a live DJ before the flight. Departing from 77 different airports, Brussels Airlines welcomes Tomorrowland guests with 107 different nationalities with as a top five Spanish, Swiss, British, Swedish and German.
For the third time, Amare will bring guests from all over the world to Tomorrowland. Amare is one of Brussels Airlinesโ six Belgian Icons, an Airbus A320 dedicated to Tomorrowland. The aircraft has an impressive special painting featuring a giant eagle as well as mood lighting and a Bose music installation on the inside.
To offer its guests a carefree trip home after an fantastic Tomorrowland experience, Brussels Airlines has set up a mobile bag drop-off desk at the DreamVille camping.
โIn recent years, weโve seen that many festivalgoers still leave their tents and camping chairs behind as they donโt want to carry the heavy load with them. Especially if they still have a long journey in front of them. With the bag drop-off at DreamVille, Tomorrowland guests who fly home check in their bags for their flight right at the campsite and donโt have to carry their luggage and tents to the airport. This way they can enjoy a nice day of sightseeing in Belgium. It should at the same time help reduce the amount of tents and camping gear left behind.โ
Christian Dumortier, Head of strategic partnerships at Brussels Airlines
Next to the bag drop off, Brussels Airlines also hosts a service desk at the festival site for its guests to be able to change their flight or have any information about their journey right on the spot. Like every year, Brussels Airlines invites everyone to take a free ride on her giant Ferris wheel at the festival site, this year baptized Amare, offering a stunning view over the Tomorrowland landscape and beyond.
Brussels Airlines and Tomorrowland started their collaboration in 2012. Together they created Global Journey, offering international music fans packages that combine the festival with both transport and hotel or camping stay. That year, the airline organized 25 party flights.
In 2017, Brussels Airlines revealed Amare, an aircraft dedicated to the festival with a Tomorrowland themed livery on the outside and special light and sound effects creating a Tomorrowland experience on the inside.
Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline and the festival): Brussels Airlines Airbus A320-214 OO-SNF (msn 2810) (We fly you to the home of Tomorrowland) BRU (Ton Jochems). Image: 937385.
Lufthansa Group is announcing major changes, especially those concerning the Eurowings brand. The plan to integrate Brussels Airlines into Eurowings has been a failure (several Brussels Airlines aircraft have been repainted into Eurowings colors and were operating under the Eurowings brand). Brussels Airlines will now stand alone under it own brand and will now be aligned with the other network airlines (Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian).
Here is the full announcement:
Eurowings to focus on short-haul services in future
Commercial responsibility for Eurowings long-haul services to be transferred to the Network Organization in future
Re-orientation of Brussels Airlines: closer alignment with Network Airlines; integration into Eurowings will not be further pursued
Change in dividend policy to enable shareholders to participate more in the Groupโs success
The Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG is informing investors and analysts about the further development of its airline strategy. The planned actions should sustainably enhance Lufthansa Groupโs value creation. A key element is a comprehensive set of measures to turn around Eurowings, which should be returned to profit as swiftly as possible and sustainably generate value for shareholders.
To enable shareholders to participate more substantially in the Groupโs results, the current dividend policy shall be changed. In future, 20 to 40% of the Groupโs net income should be regularly distributed to shareholders. In the medium term, the Group aims to raise its free cash flow to at least EUR 1 billion a year.
Various planned actions will be presented to analysts and investors today. These include:
Eurowings turnaround: a clear focus on short-haul point-to-point operations
Eurowings long-haul: transfer of commercial responsibility to the Network Organization
Eurowings flight operations: less complexity and higher productivity through a reduction to one AOC in Germany
Eurowings fleet: standardization on the Airbus A320 family
Eurowings costs: a 15% reduction in unit costs (CASK) by 2022
Brussels Airlines: no integration into Eurowings and closer alignment to the Network Airlines (further details in the third quarter of 2019)
Brussels Airlines: turnaround plan in the third quarter of 2019
Network Airlines: innovations in sales and distribution to make a structural growth contribution to raising unit revenues by 3% by 2022
Network Airlines: continuous 1 to 2% annual reduction of unit costs.
โWith the airlines in our Group we are excellently positioned in our home markets, which are among the strongest in the world,โ says Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. โOur Groupโs service companies are also world leaders in their fields. We want to translate this market strength even more consistently into sustainable profitability and value creation. And it is to this end that we are presenting concrete actions today which will enhance our efficiency and generate value for our shareholders. Because we donโt just want to be Number One for our customers and our employees: we want to be the first choice for our shareholders, too.โ
Top Copyright Photo: Eurowings (Brussels Airlines) Airbus A330-343 OO-SFL (msn 579) (BIZ class on board) BRU (Ton Jochems). Image: 946745.
From June 1, 2019: Instead of Terminal 2, departures and arrivals will be handled in Terminal 1 of Munich Airport from now on. Munich’s second-largest airline will be moving into its new location soon. Eurowings passengers benefit from short distances and can use all Eurowings service facilities easily and comfortably in one connected area.
In addition to domestic German flights, Eurowings particularly offers touristic destinations around the Mediterranean Sea. Terminal 1 at Munich Airport is well suited for this point-to-point traffic with its short distances from the short-stay parking zones or car park P1 to the check-in area and gates. Check-in for all departures is in Area A. Passengers can enjoy attractive catering and shopping facilities after passing through the security checkpoint.
For transferring passengers, a free shuttle service is available, which carries them every 10 minutes between the two terminals.
In other news, the first Eurowings-branded Airbus A320 (OO-SNN) arrives in Brussels on May 31 for operation by Brussels Airlines.
In February Brussels Airlines announced a new travel experience on board of its long-haul aircraft. With a completely new Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy Class the airline wants to recreate a boutique hotel feel at 30,000 feet. The first aircraft retrofitted with the new onboard experience has entered the fleet on April 29, and the sales of the new Premium Economy Class has been opened for travel as of August 1, 2019.
With the introduction of its new long-haul travel experience, Brussels Airlines launches a brand new cabin. Premium Economy aims at catering for the needs of long haul customers who require superior travel comfort, without paying the price of a Business Class seat.
The new Premium Economy cabin is completely separated from the other classes, creating a quiet and relaxed environment with soft purple and blue colours. With only 21 seats, tranquility is one of the key features of the Premium Economy cabin. A premium seat with increased private space, comfortable cushioning and an expanded armrest allow to travel undisturbed. A 38โ seat pitch (23% more legroom compared to Economy Class), a wider seat with a bigger headrest and a generous 40ยฐ seat recline allow for a relaxing sleep. Its warm and joyful design is a signature of the Brussels Airlines brand. The 13.3โ HD screen is one of the largest HD Premium Economy screens in Europe. On top of that, a large table includes AC & USB power plugs so guests can stay productive throughout their flight.
As Premium Economy is an entirely new product for Brussels Airlines, the airline starts operating the new class as from the moment when 5 aircraft have been retrofitted, to ensure the availability of the cabin to its customers. Ticket sales for the Premium Economy Class has started for travel as of 1st of August 2019, first on its three North Atlantic routes, later this year also gradually on the African network. Until that time, Economy Class customers who are lucky enough to travel on a retrofitted aircraft have the chance to upgrade their ticket for only โฌ90 and try out the brand new Premium Economy seat in premiere.
Brussels Airlines has made this announcement on its latest logo jet scheme on Airbus A320 OO-SNE.
An ode to one of the most talented artists of the sixteenth century.
Known for his folk tableaux and scenes from rural life, Flemish Master Pieter Bruegel the Elder allowed his imagination to work like no other, painting classical themes in a very quirky and humorous way.
Moved and touched by the tough life in the countryside, he captured the life of the common man in a masterly manner.
And most importantly, he has given Belgium a very rich art history to be proud of.
This is why we have created Bruegel as part of our aircraft series in honour of Belgian icons. Because this is what Pieter Bruegel The Elder is.
A Belgian icon
All photos by the airline.
FOLLOW BRUEGEL
Are you wondering where Bruegel is flying for the moment? Have a look below. The schedule listed is the most current, but please keep in mind that it can change last minute, and without notice.
Brussels Airlines has revealed a brand new travel experience on board of its long-haul aircraft. By investing 10 million euro per aircraft in a completely new Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy Class the airline wants to offer a personal experience, recreating a boutique hotel feel at 30,000 feet. The interior was designed in collaboration with JPA Design.
Brussels Airlines aims to make the journey as important as the destination. With three new highly differentiated classes with quality products and the typical Belgian hospitality, the airline calls its newly introduced and retrofitted Airbus A330 aircraft โa boutique hotel in the airโ, offering the same small scale personal experience as one finds in a boutique hotel. To translate its boutique aspirations into reality, Brussels Airlines has worked with JPA Design to design the brand new Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy Class.
The Belgian touch
Premium-quality material such as wood and leather have always been important when it comes to Belgian design. Belgian Art Nouveau and Victor Horta were the inspiration for the new A330 cabin interior. The dome light of the ceiling in the boarding area features an elegant Art Nouveau design. All seats feature rich 3D textured fabric, inspired by famous Belgian designers like Dries Van Noten.
As culinary excellence is key to Belgians, Brussels Airlines teams up with a Belgian Star Chef every year to design the Business Class menuโs on its long-haul flights. With its new cabin the airline also brings the Belgian beer and bar culture to the sky, by including a self-service bar in its aircraft and offering a varying choice of 8 famous Belgian beers to all guests. Next to that, Belgian wines, coffee and premium Belgian chocolates from Neuhaus are personally served by the airlineโs warm and friendly crew.
ย โAt Brussels Airlines we are continuously working on improving the comfort for our guests on board as well as on the ground. With this significant investment in our long-haul travel experience, we emphasize once more on our commitment towards an exceptional passenger experience. The experience delivered by the finest boutique hotels has been the source of inspiration for our new Intercontinental Business Class. We want to be the most personal airline, give a personal service to every guest and offer everyone the warm hospitality Belgium is known for. And that is exactly the essence of a boutique hotel, offering a world-class service in a small scale environment. The comparison of our aircraft โ especially on the long haul โ with a boutique hotel makes a lot of sense.โ
Christina Foerster โ CEO Brussels Airlines
“It has been an absolute joy to collaborate with such a characterful combination of the Brussels Airlines brand & Belgium itself. Both have a genuinely unique โjoie de vivreโ and with such great design culture to draw on it has been a fun and enjoyable project to deliver. The new cabins reflect aย ’boutique hotel in the sky’, which captures the warmth and friendliness of the Brussels Airlines brand, whilst perfectly melding JPA Design’s experience in creating hospitality and aviation interiors. Together, we’ve created a harmonious ambiance for a personalised & warm service, and the result takes the airlineโs guest-experience to new levels.โย ย
John Tighe โ Design Director for Transport at JPA Design
Business Class, a boutique hotel feel with an Art Nouveau signature
The new Business Class brings a boutique hotel atmosphere with a classy Belgian design, far from a traditional Business Class. Throughout the whole cabin design, Art Nouveau patterns reflect the premium Belgian hospitality and bring a sophisticated and relaxed atmosphere on board, consistent with what the airline offers its Business Class guests on the ground in their flagship lounge โThe Loftโ at Brussels Airport. The carpet pattern is inspired by the vault design of historical Antwerp central station while famous Belgian designers like Dries Van Noten were an inspiration for the design of the seat fabric.
Thanks to its small size of only 30 seats and its unique staggered configuration, the new Business Class offers great privacy in every seat. Guests can choose between a single and a double seat depending on whether they are travelling alone or with a companion. Completely adaptable to every guestโs need the new Business seat can be converted to a lounge sofa or a 2m long full flat bed with adjustable softness. This combined with the new lighting ambiance tailored to all flight phases, ensures a rejuvenating sleep for jet lag-free flying across time zones. Furthermore, the 15.6โ HD screen can be tilted to adapt to all seating positions and includes high-quality noise-cancelling headphones.
Guests travelling in the new Business Class can indulge in a fine culinary experience. International wines & Laurent Perrier Champagne from Brussels Airlinesโ award winning wine cellar selected by Master of Wine Fiona Morrison, accompany a four-course gastronomic meal created by a Belgian Michelin Star Chef. This year itโs Thierry Theys from restaurant Nuance who serves his menus on board. On top of the fine dining experience, Brussels Airlines brings for the first time ever a Belgian walk-up bar on board, located just behind the Business Class cabin, offering famous Belgian beers as well as a place to network with fellow Business Class travellers.
Premium Economy, the most relaxing experience
With its new long-haul travel experience, Brussels Airlines also launches a brand new travel class. The new Premium Economy Class is completely separated from the other classes, creating a quiet and relaxed environment with soft purple and blue colours. A premium seat with increased private space, comfortable cushioning and an expanded armrest allow to travel undisturbed. A 38โ seat pitch (23% more legroom compared to Economy Class), a wider seat with a bigger headrest and a generous 40ยฐ seat recline allow for a relaxing sleep. Its warm and joyful design with a red touch is a signature of the Brussels Airlines brand. The 13.3โ HD screen is one of the largest HD Premium Economy screens in Europe. On top of that, a large table includes AC & USB power plugs so guests can stay productive throughout their flight.
Like everywhere, Brussels Airlines offers its ever-personal service in Premium Economy, on top of an upgraded culinary experience, a water bottle and hot towel, and later during the flight ice cream as a movie snack.
Economy Class: Warm, generous and friendly
The new Economy cabin provides additional comfort for every guest. A playful design, inspired by the sunrise on the North Sea represents the warmth of Brussels Airlinesโ Belgian hospitality. The new Economy seat features an ergonomic headrest offering increased privacy and adjustable neck support. A large seat recline, personal USB port and a wide choice of entertainment and games on a 10.1โโ screen ensure an enjoyable and relaxing flight, while each guest can enjoy a nice international meal with aperitif and complimentary beers, wines and spirits.
The first refurbished A330 will be operational in April 2019.
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