BRU-MAN-BRU with SN on 17-18 Jun 04

[Comet]

The lack of full service on Andre's flight is no different to the lack of service on my flight back in March. It is not a new problem at all...

It seems to be that if there is a tiny piece of Twix in your Modge box then you don't get the Belgian chocolates handed out. On my first SNBA flight there was a muesli bar in the Modge box, and we had the chocolate then.

And I also agree that SNBA should provide Belgian water (Spa is a very nice one) because they should be seen to be supporting Belgian businesses I think. I suppose at least they serve Belgian beer.

[OO-SBZ]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I am the father ( ) of those messages... kind of "Message to Mr Ryanair"

Yep you invented them

I like those comments a lot. And if someone of the respective company reads them, it'll directly give them a feedbakc.

Chris

Well, as far as Ryanair is concerned,
- I did not get a brand new 738 (with leather seats Bob) to/from Bergamo.
- I did get two seats on the evening flight to Bergamo.
- Eventually I got a brand new 737-800 (with... ) between CRL and STN a few days before the service was axed.


BeN

[OO-VEX]

Mr SN Brussels, may I recommend that you serve Belgian sandiwhes and water in the Brussels Bistro, else call it Amsterdam Bistro... There are enough mineral waters in Belgium: Spa, Chaudfontaine, Villers, ...

Hehe, i'm not mister SNBA (i wish though! )but i'll try to answer that question for you:

It's all about costs. If the amsterdam company offers a product that is cheaper for the same quality (i will leave the level of quality in the middle, as there seems to be some difference in opinion about it between the people here) as other companies do, then better for them to buy the one from the Amsterdam company.

Tell me, how many people look at where it is made? And how many people taste the difference between belgian and dutch water? Maybe the dutch water even tastes better

Profiling as a full service airline, yes, but keeping the costs under control at the same time!



Greets,

Pieter

I follow Pieter in his opinion.

For SN it is just the choice between offering a service at a good price or offering no service at all. And it seems that the catering companies (LSG and Supplair) can offer a good quality/price to SNBA.

Mr SN Brussels, may I recommend that you serve Belgian sandiwhes and water in the Brussels Bistro, else call it Amsterdam Bistro... There are enough mineral waters in Belgium: Spa, Chaudfontaine, Villers, ...

SN never claimed to have only Belgian food and drinks on board. We have a free market, which gives us a wider variety of products and better prices. Why should a company only buy products from the home land?
I don't think Italian restaurants from all over the world buy their ingredients only in Italy.

This comes from their press release:

Being Belgian, SN Brussels Airlines also brings a few typical local accents to Brussels Bistro. Belgian beers, 3 million bars of Neuhaus quality chocolate and 300.000 pieces of pie have already been ordered for the clients in the upcoming year.

DNA wrote:

Who on earth cares where the sandwiches are prepared?

I agree with you.
It is not because a sandwich is prepared in Holland, that all ingredients are Dutch. So you can end up with a Dutch sandwich, made of e.g. German ingredients.

To conclude, what is Belgian? More the receipt than the ingredients i would say...

OO-VEX

[Avro]

I partly agree with you guys. I also don't care where the sandwich is made, as long as it tastes good. BUT I think it would be nicer if they serve well known Belgian water like SPA. But that's not a very important point. As long as they do profit and CONTINUE to have a good service.

My father also didn't receive the Neuhaus chocolates a bit more than a week ago when he flew with SN. I really wonder if this is a new policy ?? Not to hand out the chocolates anymore

I hope that not, because it's a very nice touch to the flight and makes the customer very happy, with a little amount of chocolate.

Greetz
Chris
8)

[VC10]

Nice to know you had a good flight Andre, pity about the Modge-in-a Box, but now you know what we had to put up with.

And I agree with Comet and Avro that if water is served, it should be Spa water (which we used to be able to buy at home!)

[sn26567]

You paid 473.14 Euros for that flight? I assume that was for business class....?

Economy restricted (B outbound and L inbound fares)

[sn26567]

The distribution of the Brussels Bistro boxes went quite fast: a nicely coloured box, with ham/cheese and pickles sandwich (made by Supplair in Amsterdam!!!), a glass of that same Dutch mineral water with a strange French name "Prise d'eau", a mini Twix bar, milk, sugar, salt, pepper, a refreshing towel and a serviette. Than she served the drinks. I chose a can of Belgian Stella Artois (25 cl), which did indeed taste better than the British variety. Before landing, the two small Belgian chocolates by Neuhaus (bitter and milk) were missing! It seems that the quality of the Bistro dinner is going down .

Andre - I seem to remember when I wrote in my BRU-BHX flight report how tasteless and vile those cheese/ham/pickle sandwiches were, you said I was the only person with a negative view of the Modge in a Box concept. Now you have tried those very same tasteless bits of bread are you still thinking that I am the only person who doesn't like the Modge concept My views on the Modge in a Box were formed after I had sampled the very Modge you have described in your report!

I never said it was Modge in a Box. I actually liked them. But I think there are outfits in Belgium that could make a better meal....

On the return flight (which I will describe later), I got the chocolates. What did not come back is the glass of water or orange juice prior or immediately after take off.

[sn26567]

I always love those messages for Mr SN :p And it''s nice to know that Mr Sn has some employees over here reading these messages

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I am the father ( ) of those messages... kind of "Message to Mr Ryanair"

Yes, BeN, you are the father of these messages that everyone appreciates very much.

I only copied your style, and maybe I ought to pay you some copyrights

[Air_Lac]

Very good report as usual, André, thanks!

Interesting comments about the origin of the food in the various statements made, I too think that the food should be Belgian and Belgian only. What a shame to serve 'Twix Bars' in a Belgian airline, where Belgium is the home of the world's finest chocolate (together with Switzerland).

Belgium has soo many goodies to offer and Belgian airlines (not only SNBA) should act as ambassadors for Belgium and Belgian products.

Air_Lac

[Comet]

What a shame to serve 'Twix Bars' in a Belgian airline, where Belgium is the home of the world's finest chocolate (together with Switzerland).

Air_Lac

Twix is nice, but not as nice as Belgian chocolate. Swiss chocolate is like candle fat. When Nestle took over Rowntree the first thing they did was ruin the established chocolate brands

[Jense]

Thank you very much for the very nice report, André

Just want to say some things about SN:
I find it really nice what they do with their food etc., to throw it in a special concept etc... If I read the SN-reports, I'm pleased to see that SN is a great company.
But, you need to ask yourself: is all this stuff necesary? Because, most of the people that are taking a plane, are taking it as a bus you know; in and out. Not everybody cares about this service/food/...
I think that SN need to be careful in what they do. Don't offer too high 'standards' (higher prices) to their clients...
I can imagine that Neuhaus pralines etc. aren't that cheap...

greettzzz

[blackhawk]

I can imagine that Neuhaus pralines etc. aren't that cheap...

: made in China

Jense, SN will propose new products improvements in the following months, so it seems the passengers are 'asking' this kind of service.

[dna]

It seems to be that if there is a tiny piece of Twix in your Modge box then you don't get the Belgian chocolates handed out. On my first SNBA flight there was a muesli bar in the Modge box, and we had the chocolate then.

Louise, on the return flight, there was a minuscule Mars bar in the bistro pack, but we also received the Neuhaus chocolates afterwards, so there is no link between those two No Twix or Mars in the outbound leg though, as I went for a peach pie.

No water/juice before take-off though, that seems to have been abolished. But all in all, the service is good, and the crew are extremely friendly. SNBA really serve as an outstanding example to many others in this respect. A great airline!

[sn26567]

But, you need to ask yourself: is all this stuff necesary? Because, most of the people that are taking a plane, are taking it as a bus you know; in and out. Not everybody cares about this service/food/...
I think that SN need to be careful in what they do. Don't offer too high 'standards' (higher prices) to their clients...

I disagree with you on that one, Jense. Most passengers truly enjoy the Bistro concept. I seldom saw anyone refusing to take his box. And this puts SN above most of the other European airlines.

They just should be cautious not to reduce the standards if they want to keep in the top of the league of the SkyTrax awards.

[Comet]

It seems to be that if there is a tiny piece of Twix in your Modge box then you don't get the Belgian chocolates handed out. On my first SNBA flight there was a muesli bar in the Modge box, and we had the chocolate then.

Louise, on the return flight, there was a minuscule Mars bar in the bistro pack, but we also received the Neuhaus chocolates afterwards, so there is no link between those two No Twix or Mars in the outbound leg though, as I went for a peach pie.

No water/juice before take-off though, that seems to have been abolished. But all in all, the service is good, and the crew are extremely friendly. SNBA really serve as an outstanding example to many others in this respect. A great airline!

We too had no drinks before take off back in March, and no magazine until after take off, which was maddening because I like to read the magazine before the aircraft even moves away from the terminal, once we are on the move I spend the whole time looking through the window.

I agree that the cabin crews are friendly and polite, but I have to say that 75% of the cabin crews we came across were not good at the job - they were totally inefficient! That is a real pity because in some respects, SNBA is nowhere near as good as Sabena when it comes to the onboard service.

[OO-VEX]

No water/juice before take-off though, that seems to have been abolished.

Could it be possible that due to the higher loadfactor, there isn't enough time anymore to serve drinks before take-off

OO-VEX

[dna]

Could it be possible that due to the higher loadfactor, there isn't enough time anymore to serve drinks before take-off

I don't think so. The outbound flight to THF was about half full. The return flight had a load factor of about 70-80% in economy, but 0% in business.

Dave

[blackhawk]

There are some new flight reviews online at http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/snbrussels.htm

"LGW-BRU on evening flight earlier this week. Bae146 comfortable, with only ten people on board!": now that's what I call a low load factor.

[L-1011]

Thanks for this nice report André.

Nice to see you couldn't xait to come back to write the review

And the live football score annoucing service from the pilots, should be standard on every flight

ciao,
TriStar

[sn26567]

SNBA is nowhere near as good as Sabena when it comes to the onboard service.

I feel the allegiance of Comet will shift back to VLM soon