Brussels Airlines begins new route to Mali today
Brussels-Bamako, 7 September 2011 - As from today, Brussels Airlines connects Mali to Brussels Airport. Flights to the capital Bamako are twice weekly.
The inaugural flight from Brussels to Bamako was celebrated this morning in a ceremony attended by Brussels Airlines co-CEOs Bernard Gustin & Michel Meyfroidt, the Ambassador of Mali in Belgium, Brussels Airport CEO Arnaud Feist, as well as numerous other representatives from the Malian community and the travel industry.
As of today, Mali is once again linked to the European capital. Since 2001, there have been no flight connections between Belgium and the large north-western African country. Thus, the launch of a new scheduled service by Brussels Airlines has been warmly welcomed by the Malian government and community. The number of bookings to/from Bamako has been encouraging so far. “This investment in services to Mali illustrates our belief in the economic progress of the country,” said Brussels Airlines co-CEO Bernard Gustin. “With the opening of Bamako, we continue to strengthen our presence on the African continent. As of today, we offer no less than 21 scheduled destinations in Africa.”
Smooth connections via Brussels Airport to Mali
Brussels Airlines passengers from all over Europe can travel easily to Mali via smooth transfers at Brussels Airport. Flights from France (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse), United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Scandinavia and many other countries are well-timed to allow for a smooth connection to this new long-haul destination. Flights to Bamako depart from the Brussels Airlines Africa terminal which is located right next to the Schengen terminal, thus allowing for smooth transfers.
This new route is flown in an Airbus A330-300 aircraft with both a business and economy class configuration, as well as a cargo capacity.
Flights are on Wednesdays and Sundays. The outbound flight departs at 10:40 from Brussels and arrives in Bamako at 14:40 local time. The return flight departs from Bamako at 21:30 local time and arrives at Brussels Airport at 05:30 in the morning.
Just like on any other Brussels Airlines flight, passengers on flights to/from Bamako will be able to accumulate miles with our frequent flyer programme Miles & More.
