Expo city new destination thanks to co-operation with Hainan Airlines

As from today, Brussels Airlines will offer its customers 3 weekly flights to Shanghai. The Chinese metropole and host of this year’s World Exhibition is henceforth directly connected to Brussels thanks to a new scheduled service of Brussels Airlines’ partner Hainan Airlines.

The Chinese port Shanghai is one of the world’s largest cities and is considered as China’s economic and financial business capital. Many Belgian enterprises have a plant or business activity in Shanghai. This year, the city hosts the World Exhibition.

Thanks to the new scheduled service of Hainan Airlines, operated in co-operation with Brussels Airlines, Shanghai will be directly connected to Brussels as from today, 28 May. Brussels Airlines will sell tickets under SN flight number through their travel agencies and own sales channels (website, call centre, airport ticketing desks).

All flights will be operated with modern Airbus A 330 of Hainan Airlines.

Flights are scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Departure out of Brussels is planned for the early afternoon and the return flight from Shanghai arrives in Brussels in the early morning.

The schedule matches perfectly with the Brussels Airlines flight offering to dozens of European and African destinations. Many smooth connections in Brussels are possible.

“We are very happy that thanks to this partnership with Hainan Airlines we are now able to add Shanghai to our portfolio”, says Brussels Airlines EVP Strategy & Business Development Erik Follet. “Our co-operation with Hainan started in 2006 when the airline launched direct services between Brussels and Bejing. The results of the co-operation Brussels Airlines/Hainan Airlines are positive. With the addition of this new service to Shanghai, the economic centre of China, the partnership extends since henceforth there are daily flights between Brussels and China."

Brussels Airlines press release, Brussels, 28 May 2010

According to a press release issued this 9th of April 2010 only in Dutch and French (a bad habit that started a few months ago), Brussels Airlines offers since this week new daily connections to Philadelphia thanks to a partnership with US Airways, a member of the Star Alliance.

Initially 40 US destinations (such as Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami or San Francisco) will also be available from Philadelphia under the SN code.

In a second step in early May, 34 other US destinations will be added to that list (Buffalo, Détroit, Houston,
Portland…). The US Airways passengers will also benefit from that partnership. They will be able to reach several destinations in Europe and Africa via Brussels Airport. The US code will be present on flights to 30 destinations operated by Brussels Airlines in Europe. In early May, 10 African destinations will be added to the list.

US Airways and Brussels Airlines are both members of the Star Alliance. The Brussels Airlines passengers will be able to spend and to save miles of the « Miles & More » programme on all the flights of this partnership.

With the agreements signed both United Airlines and US Airways, 80 destinations are now available in the US under the SN code.

Accra, Cotonou, Ouagadougou and Lome added to the network thanks to an additional Airbus A330 / Creation of 110 new jobs within the company

In July Brussels Airlines will launch four new African destinations: Accra (Ghana), Cotonou (Benin), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Lome (Togo). These additional destinations will be offered many times a week from Brussels Airport. The current connections to Abidjan (Ivory Coast) will also be increased. An additional Airbus A330 will join the Brussels Airlines fleet creating additional 110 staff positions within the Company.

The four new destinations are situated in West Africa and are completely new routes for Brussels Airlines. The routes will attract business from, VFR (visiting family and relatives), the business community, diplomatic services and the tourism industry. The flights to these new destinations will be operated with an Airbus A330, which will complete the long-haul fleet of Brussels Airlines. The first flight will be operated in the first week of July 2010.

Overview of the new destinations

Accra (Ghana)
Ghana has 23.8 million inhabitants and has a growing economy specialising in mining and exploration of many natural resources (including oil) and export of cocoa. Ghana is a multinational country and also plays hosts annually to many tourists who come to discover the impressive eco-tourism potential. Many European regions, such as Benelux, Germany and UK have large Ghanaian communities.

Flights to Accra, the capital of Ghana, will operate four times weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday).

Cotonou (Benin)
Benin, a former French colony, has approximately 8.5 million residents and is recognised in the export of cotton and in agricultural production. The busy harbor plays a crucial role in the region. The government of Benin is currently focused on the development of international investment, agriculture, technology and tourism.

Brussels Airlines will offer two weekly flights to Cotonou (Tuesday and Saturday).

Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
Burkina Faso is surrounded by six countries and has a population of almost 16 million. The economy depends on agricultural production, mining and many collaborative projects with other countries. Many Non Governmental organisations are active in the country and tourism is steadily growing.

Brussels airlines will operate two weekly flights to Ouagadougou (Thursday and Sunday).

Lome (Togo)
Former German colony, Togo has a population of 6.6 million and is known as the “Pearl of Africa”. Togo produces mainly agricultural products and cotton and specializes in mining (phosphate) exploration. The harbor of Lome is the only deep-sea harbor in the region. Togo is entirely surrounded by Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana.

Brussels Airlines will connect twice a week Brussels airport in Lome (Monday and Friday).

Expansion of services to Africa

With this expansion, Brussels Airlines will operate 18 destinations on the African continent with its fleet of Airbus A330. On the West African coast, the airline will operate flights to 14 airports in 13 countries. Passengers can also benefit from Lufthansa services to Africa (Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sudan, Angola and South Africa).

« As specialist in Africa, we continue our development based on our experience », explains Michel Meyfroidt and Bernard Gustin, Co-CEO’s of Brussels Airlines. « Africa is our second home and this new investment perfectly reflects that. The announcement of the launch of these 4 new destinations has been warmly welcomed. We want not only offer excellent connections between Ghana, Lome, Burkina Faso, Togo and Europe, but we want also to participate in the economic development of West Africa. »

Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo will also complete the large network of Star Alliance in the world.

Brussels Airlines is also strengthening its presence in the dedicated African section of Brussels Airport, known as the « T » zone. Like the other African destinations, the frequencies of these new destinations will perfectly connect our European, North American, Asian and Middle East network.

Due to the interest of the French market for these new destinations, Brussels Airlines will offer an additional daily flight between Paris CDG and Brussels as from the beginning of the summer season (28th of March). This second connection will ensure excellent transfer opportunities to the passengers travelling to Africa. The new four daily flights from London Heathrow also offer perfect connections to the African destinations via Brussels.

Creation of 110 jobs

As a result of this expansion on the African continent, Brussels Airlines will hire 110 employees - 12 new pilots and 50 cabin crew. A dozen employees will also reinforce the ground operations staff and sales/customers support. In the new African stations, Brussels Airlines will also create employment for forty people. This expansion will also create many indirect jobs related to the operations of the new aircraft (airport, handling, catering, security…).

Brussels Airlines press release, Brussels, 22nd of February 2010

Austrian Airlines launches cooperation with new Star Alliance partner Brussels Airlines
· Codeshare agreement creates strong connections to and from Belgium

At the end of March 2010, with the beginning of the summer schedule, Austrian Airlines will be launching its cooperation with new Star Alliance partner airline Brussels Airlines. Until now, Austrian Airlines has flown the route from Vienna to Brussels five times a day. In future, however, the cooperation between the two carriers will allow us to offer two more flights a day, increasing the total to seven flights a day. We offer our customers a finely-tuned flight schedule. All flights are to be marketed by both partners Brussels Airport is the hub of Brussels Airlines, and we will also be offering new and attractive connections, both to Belgium itself and beyond. Our customers will benefit from additional options for transferring into the Austrian Airlines route network.

Vienna-Brussels (valid from 28 March 2010):

OS 8177 operated by Brussels Airlines
Daily except Sunday
Vienna 6.50 a.m.
Brussels 8.45 a.m.
Avro RJ100

OS 351
Daily
Vienna 7.05 a.m.
Brussels 8.50 a.m.
Airbus A320

OS 8171 operated by Brussels Airlines
Daily
Vienna 9.55 a.m.
Brussels 11.45 a.m.
Boeing 737-400

OS 353
Daily except Saturday
Vienna 1.50 p.m.
Brussels 3.35 p.m.
Fokker 100

OS 355
Daily
Vienna 5.30 p.m.
Brussels 7:15 p.m.
Airbus A320

OS 8173 operated by Brussels Airlines
Daily except Saturday
Vienna 6.20 p.m.
Brussels 8.15 p.m.
Avro RJ100

OS 8175 operated by Brussels Airlines
Daily
Vienna 8.45 p.m.
Brussels 10.40 p.m.
Boeing 737-400

Brussels-Vienna (valid from 28 March 2010):

OS 8172 operated by Brussels Airlines
Daily
Brussels 7.00 a.m.
Vienna 8.50 a.m.
Boeing 737-400

OS 352
Daily
Brussels 10.25 a.m.
Vienna 12:15 p.m.
Airbus A320

OS 8174 operated by Brussels Airlines
Daily except Saturday
Brussels 4.00 p.m.
Vienna 5.50 p.m.
Avro RJ100

OS 354
Daily except Saturday
Brussels 5.00 p.m.
Vienna 6.50 p.m.
Fokker 100

OS 8176 operated by Brussels Airlines
Daily
Brussels 6.25 p.m.
Vienna 8.15 p.m.
Boeing 737-400

OS 8178 operated by Brussels Airlines
Daily except Saturday
Brussels 7:20 p.m.
Vienna 9.10 p.m.
Avro RJ100

OS 356
Daily
Brussels 8.00 p.m.
Vienna 9.45 p.m.
Airbus A320


Flights can be booked from 18th February 2010 on the Austrian website at http://www.austrian.com, by telephone on our booking hotline 05 1766 1000, or at your local travel agency.

Austrian Airlines press release 18/02/2010

Four new Spanish destinations in the network of the Belgian airline

Brussels Airlines and the Spanish airline Spanair, both member of Star Alliance, start a cooperation. From today onwards, Brussels Airlines customers can fly to numerous popular cities in Spain via Barcelona or Madrid : Alicante, Ibiza, La Coruna or Tenerife.

Spain is one of the most popular destinations in the Brussels Airlines network. The airline offers several daily flights to Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Malaga and several weekly flights to Seville and Palma de Mallorca.

Thanks to a codeshare agreement with the Spanish airline Spanair, effective as from today, Brussels Airlines is able to further extend its offer.

In Madrid or Barcelona airport, Brussels Airlines passengers can as of today easily transfer to connecting flights to multiple destinations in the Spanish main land or on the islands. In a first phase it concerns Alicante (Costa Blanca), Ibiza and Mallorca on the Balearic Islands, the Northern Spanish port La Coruna (Galicia) and Tenerife on the Canaries.

Smooth connections

All connecting flights are being operated by Brussels Airlines’ latest partner Spanair. The Spanair flights will appear with a ‘SN’ flight number in the reservation systems. Baggage is automatically checked through to the final destination and passengers can earn and redeem Miles & More frequent flyer miles on all flights. For example : passengers who want to travel to Tenerife depart in Brussels at 14.20 and after a short intermediate stop in Madrid they continue their journey with Spanair to arrive inTenerife at 19.00. Those wanting to fly to Palma can leave in Brussels at either 06.35 or 18.25 for Barcelona to arrive, after a stopover in Barcelona, at respectively 10.25 or 22.20 in Mallorca.

Spanair, thusfar not yet present on the Belgian market, will as from now and as a consequence of the codeshare agreement, sell seats on all flights operated by Brussels Airlines between Spain and Belgium.
The goal is that in the course of 2010 numerous other destinations will be jointly offered by both airlines. The codeshare agreement between Brussels Airlines and Spanair is a direct consequence of the entry of Brussels Airlines into the global network of Star Alliance end of last year. Spanair is member of Star Alliance since 2003.

“This agreement is another example of the many benefits we can offer our customers as a result of our entry into Star Alliance”, says Brussels Airlines CO CEO Bernard Gustin. “This winter season Brussels Airlines flies at least 11 times a day from Brussels Airport to Spain. No other airline offers more frequencies. Thanks to the cooperation with Spanair, we make many new destinations available to our customers and we make a huge step forward on the important Spanish market.”

Brussels Airlines press release, Brussels / Barcelona 14 January 2010