by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 18, 2016 | Brussels, Economy Plus, Featured, Passenger Experience |
Brussels has unveiled a minor adjustment to their long-haul passenger cabins by adding an Economy Plus section. The Economy Plus seats are the same seats as the normal Economy class, however seat pitch and recline angle have been increased for improved comfort. Specifically, pitch has been increased by approximately 3-4 inches, and the recline angle of the seat has been increased from 8 degrees to 20 degrees. The Economy Plus section will take up the first 4 rows of the Economy cabin aboard their A330s serving North America and Africa.
To mark the introduction of this new seat plan, SN has randomly awarded 20,000 passengers traveling in July and August a complimentary upgrade from Economy to Economy Plus. Otherwise, the upgrade cost from ‘Y’ to ‘Y+’ will be a flat €120 per segment. For a limited time however, SN is offering this upgrade for only €99 each way. The upgrade is available from any Economy Class fare.
A couple of amenities come with Y+ as well. Passengers will be offered a glass of champagne before departure, an amenity kit, and a box of chocolates.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 2, 2016 | Brussels, Featured, Passenger Experience |
Starting this month, Brussels has radically expanded their in-flight dining options for flights operated within Europe.
In association with Belgian food company ‘Foodmaker’, Brussels will now offer passengers a wide variety of options that are quite unconventional as far as airline food is concerned.
For passengers flying under Flex&Fast fares, they’ll be treated to complimentary warm meals for flights over 2 hours long. For passengers flying on ‘Light&Relax’ fares, they will have a large menu of options to choose from, at reasonable prices.
The menu options include creative beverages, pastries, salads, wraps, and sandwiches…..all made with a focus on fresh and healthy ingredients sourced from local Belgian suppliers.
I’ve attached the menu in place between June and August (Click on the link to open the PDF):
menu-LR
by Lufthansa Flyer | May 24, 2016 | Brussels, Featured, Lounges, Passenger Experience |
Brussels Airlines has opened a newly refreshed Lounge in Terminal B in Brussels.
The new lounge, dubbed ‘The Suite’ offers passengers of Brussels and other Star Alliance member airlines twice as much space as the previous edition of the Terminal B Lounge, with room for up to 160 passengers. The lounge also draws inspiration from ‘The Loft’, the lounge that ‘SN’ opened in Terminal A back in 2014. Passengers can enjoy Quiet Rest Areas, a variety of Food Stations, Business Areas as well as a dedicated Reading Area. For more details, visit Brussels’ dedicated webpage for the new lounge.
The lounge will serve Non-Schengen departures to the United States, Africa, Russia, and the UK among others. It will be open from 5:00a to 10:15 daily, and is located at the end of the ‘Lounge Corridor’ in Terminal B.
Here is a look at the new lounge (All photos courtesy of Brussels Airlines):
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 27, 2016 | Airlines, Brussels, Featured, LCC, Lufthansa |
Lufthansa’s Executive Board was set to give their recommendation today on whether or not the Supervisory Board should vote to acquire the remaining stake of Brussels Airlines that LH does not already own. Over the last few weeks, momentum had been growing that the deal would be announced in April, but not we’ll need to wait til September at the very soonest to see what is decided. Currently, LH owns a 45% stake in the airline and has until 2017 to exercise its option to buy the remaining 55% from SN Airholding.
The reason given for this delay is to allow Brussels, and Belgium at large to recover after the recent bombings at the airport and metro stations. On the surface, it looks like a valid reason but in my opinion I think there may be other reasons that go beyond sympathy.
Since announcing the potential buy up of SN, Lufthansa has made it no secret that it is looking for other partners as it tries to boost its Eurowings LCC (Low Cost Carrier) division. In addition to the SN deal, which still seems most likely, LH has approached SAS as well as Thomas Cook’s ‘Condor’ to see if there is any desire from these airlines to join Lufthansa Group. Lufthansa has simply said that exploratory conversations had taken place but no decisions had been made.
In my opinion, I don’t think LH tapped the brakes on the SN deal because of the terrorist attacks. As tragic as the events were, it was not a direct strike on Brussels Airlines and thus would have changed the tenor of the deal with Lufthansa. In addition, the SN deal was nothing new. LH has obviously been aware all along what the timeline would be for the deal and since it is already a 45% stake holder, it would be a simple accounting transaction that would close the deal for the remaining 55%.
What I think is happening is that LH sees a very fragmented LCC market in Europe, with far too many players involved which leaves only a few successful LCC operators such as EasyJet and Ryanair. LH sees opportunities to bolster its line up with potentially larger market players such as SAS or Condor as compared to SN and they simply are going through their due diligence to confirm they don’t miss a better opportunity elsewhere. With the sovereign ownership group of SAS being motivated to sell the airline, and Thomas Cook wanting to get rid of Condor who is saddled with 800 million euro in debt, LH might be able to get a fantastic bargain and at the same time at something new to the group, while still maintaining the SN stake.
Ultimately however, I truly feel that LH will take the path of least resistance and bring the rest of Brussels Airlines into the fold.
Just my 2¢……
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 24, 2016 | Brussels, Featured |
Due to the closing of Brussels Airport (BRU) due to terrorist bombings, Brussels Airlines is moving a majority of their European schedule to nearby airports to help passengers get to their destinations and reduce disruptions as much as possible for March 24 and March 25. Most passengers who were originally scheduled to fly to or from ‘BRU’ within Brussels Airlines European network have been automatically rebooked to fly from either Liege or Antwerp. In addition, Brussels Airlines is allowing passengers to cancel or rebook their tickets at no cost (info available in the link provided below).
Because of size limitations at Liege or Antwerp, not every SN flight will operate between now and Friday. It does appear however, that about 2/3rds of their schedule will be carried out.
‘SN’ has published a helpful page that lists all of the Euro flights for Thursday and Friday and which airport the flights will operate from.
According to Brussels Airport, ‘BRU’ will remain closed through at least Friday, March 26. They will of course provide updates should the date need to be changed.
