Brussels Airlines grows its intercontinental fleet with a 9th aircraft
The Belgian airline expands its market position in West Africa
Brussels Airlines goes for growth in Africa, its most important market. After reducing its intercontinental fleet from 10 to 8 aircraft in the context of its turnaround programme in 2020, Brussels Airlines now sees an opportunity for expanding its intercontinental offer again. As of June 2022, a 9th A330 will become operational in the Brussels Airlines fleet. With the extra capacity, the Africa expert of the Lufthansa Group will reopen the West African stations Conakry and Ouagadougou and add frequencies on its routes from Brussels Airport to Freetown, Monrovia, Banjul and Lomé.
As part of the network resizing during the airline’s turnaround plan Reboot Plus following the COVID-19 crisis, Brussels Airlines discontinued its operations to Conakry (Guinea) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in 2020. The first objective of the turnaround plan was to structurally lower the company’s cost structure to a competitive level, as to create a sustainable future for Brussels Airlines. The airline now sees an increasing demand in the market, creating an opportunity to expand its presence in West Africa again.
“We always said that we would go for growth as soon as market conditions permitted. As we see a strong demand in the West African market, we want to take the opportunity to go for growth and invest in an expansion of our African network. The allocation of this aircraft to Brussels Airlines is a clear sign of Lufthansa’s trust in Brussels Airlines and confirms once again our position as Africa expert within the Lufthansa Group.”
Peter Gerber, CEO of Brussels Airlines
“We are happy to welcome Conakry and Ouagadougou to the Brussels Airlines network again. With the additional A330 aircraft, we will operate 3 weekly flights to Conakry and Ouagadougou as well as add additional frequencies to Freetown, Monrovia, Banjul and Lomé.”
Jan Derycke, Head of Network and Planning
Additional employment
The additional intercontinental aircraft also creates new jobs in the company. Brussels Airlines will hire 50 cabin crew members, to join the company over the coming months. As promised during its restructuring, the Belgian employer will first offer the open positions to former cabin crew members who did not see their temporary contract prolonged last year due to the coronavirus crisis. For Brussels Airlines’ pilot community this offers perspectives for medium haul pilots to evolve to the long haul sector.
