50,000 people voted for their favorite Belgian Icon, jury selects winner from top 5

Lucky Luke, the Atomium, Cycling, Poppies and Shrimp fishers were the most popular designs

Brussels, October 15, 2024 - Brussels Airlines received over 50,000 votes for the next Belgian Icon. The five designs with the most votes have been presented to a jury who selected the final winner who will be announced early November. The five most popular designs are (in random order): Lucky Luke, the Atomium, Cycling, Poppies and Shrimp Fishers.

In August, Brussels Airlines launched a contest: everyone with the Belgian nationality or living in Belgium could submit a design for the next Belgian Icon. The airline received no less than 900 designs. An internal jury selected 15 finalists. Between October 4 and October 11, everyone could vote for their favorite design.

“We are pleased to see so many people cast their vote. It’s clear that the Belgian Icon contest was ‘the talk of the town’ in Belgium. As the Belgian home carrier, we want to proudly present our country to the world, and our Belgian Icons play an important part in that strategy. The design contest challenged people in Belgium to reflect on what makes us proud and who we are as a nation. We’re glad to have sparked that discussion.” ​
- Michel Moriaux, Head of Marketing, Brussels Airlines

These are the designs who got the most votes, in random order:

Jury time
Brussels Airlines gathered a jury to choose the winning design from the final five. ​
These were the members of the jury: ​
- Sandra Kim, who won the Eurovision Song Contest for Belgium in 1986, ​
- Alex Callier, from Hooverphonic, the band that made the iconic safety video for Brussels Airlines, ​
- Philippe Geluck, from the well-known ‘Le Chat’ cartoons, ​
- Michèle George, who won two gold medals during the Paralympic games in Paris 2024,
- Sandrine Corman, former miss Belgium and TV Host, ​
- Gabrielle Szwarcenberg, the designer of the Brussels Airlines uniforms, ​
- Elisia Poelman, painter, and Griet Aesaert, who has her own label of designer handbags, and both created the amenity kits for Brussels .

Brussels Airlines also had two members in the jury: CEO Dorothea von Boxberg and Michel Moriaux, Head of Marketing.

“We’ve shown all the designs to the entire jury and had a very interesting debate. Afterwards, each jury member could vote individually for their favorite design. The jury was not informed about the number of votes the designs got during the contest last week, to give all five designs an equal chance. It was not an easy decision as all designs in the final five are very impressive and could be great Belgian Icons.”
- Michel Moriaux, Head of Marketing, Brussels Airlines

Brussels Airlines will reveal the winner on November 5.

 

About Brussels Airlines’ Belgian Icons

The idea behind the Belgian Icons is to introduce the best of Belgium to the world. The Belgian Icons are known all over the world and make flying even more fun.

Brussels Airlines’ first Belgian Icon, Rackham, was introduced in 2015 and pays tribute to Tintin, the world-famous Belgian comic. Earlier this year, Amare was presented to the world which is the most recent Belgian Icon in cooperation with music festival Tomorrowland. The third Belgian Icon currently in the fleet is Trident, the official plane of the Belgian Red Devils and Red Flames, respectively the male and female national football teams.

These are the previous Belgian Icons:

  • Magritte was part of the fleet between 2016 and 2021. The aircraft was a homage to René Magritte, the Belgian surrealistic painter.
  • Aerosmurf smurfed the fleet between 2018 and 2023. This plane also took shape during a design contest organized by Brussels Airlines.
  • Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a Belgian icon from the 16th century, traveled the world between 2019 and 2023.

 

Nico Cardone

Nico Cardone

For media requests only

 

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About Brussels Airlines

Brussels Airlines is the home carrier of Belgium and one of the four network airlines of the Lufthansa Group. It connects the European capital from Brussels Airport with over 90 destinations, 18 of which are in Sub Saharan Africa. The company employs more than 3,500 people and operates 44 aircraft.

Brussels Airlines aims to emit 50% less CO2 by 2030 compared to 2019 and plans to be carbon neutral by 2050. The airline is participating in the Stargate Project led by Brussels Airport and is therefore part of the testing ground for sustainable aviation at its home base. In addition, the airline signed the Circular Economy agreement of the Antwerp Management School in 2021. The airline was the first to transport Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) through the CEPS-pipeline connecting Brussels Airport early 2023. By end 2024, Brussels Airlines will have welcomed five state-of-the-art Airbus A320neo allowing the airline to significantly lower its CO2- and noise-emissions on its medium-haul network.

As an ambassador of its country, Brussels Airlines brings the world to Belgium and the best of Belgium to the world, among others through collaborations with Belgian Star Chefs, Belgian culinary products and the Belgian Icons, specially painted aircraft that honour a Belgian iconic person, team or event to promote Belgian culture worldwide.

More information on brusselsairlines.com 


About Star Alliance

Established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance, the Star Alliance network was founded on a customer value proposition of global reach, worldwide recognition, and seamless service. Since its inception, it has offered the largest and most comprehensive airline network, with a strong emphasis on enhancing the customer experience throughout the entire Alliance journey.

Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 17,500 daily flights to over 1,150 airports in almost 190 countries.

Star Alliance Press Office: +65 8729 6691; mediarelations@staralliance.com
More information on staralliance.com

Contact

b.house Zone General Aviation - Airport Building 26 1831 Diegem

+32 2 723 89 90

press@brusselsairlines.com

www.brusselsairlines.com