LUFTHANSA has announced that Brussels Airlines has become wholly owned by the Lufthansa Group and will join the Eurowings division. The arrangement is scheduled to be closed in January 2017 and full integration is expected by 2018. Lufthansa acquired the remaining 55% it did not own at a cost of 2.6 million Euros.
Quick facts regarding Brussels
According to LH, there will be no immediate changes to how Brussels operates, in fact it appears that things will remain the same for the foreseeable future due to the perfect complement that Brussels is to LH Group as far as routes and fleet are concerned. It is expected that Brussels will continue to fly to their 23 ‘long-haul’ and 79 ‘short-haul’ destinations.
The Brussels network
Becoming part of the Eurowings group will further expand Lufthansa’s presence into the low cost carrier market within Europe where they face significant competition from the likes of Ryanair and easy Jet. Being able to plug in 51 aircraft into Eurowings with immediate effect will certainly be to LH’s advantage.
Brussels fleet information
No plans have been announced as far as any significant livery changes. LH would rather ‘SN’ keep their unique and successful brand identity. The only change that we’ll see on the aircraft is a small footnote that Brussels is a member of ‘The Eurowings Group’. Changes to the reservation system and other passenger-based services are not immediately expected.
