Brussels Airlines starts Mumbai flights in March 2017

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SabenaForever
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Brussels Airlines starts Mumbai flights in March 2017

Post by SabenaForever »

Brussels Airlines will connect Brussels with India again from March 2017, 5 times a week!


https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/brussel ... bai-march/

Freken
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Brussels Airlines to launch Bombay (Mumbai)

Post by Freken »

Direct flights between Brussels Airlines and Bombay in 2017

As from March 2017 Brussels Airlines will set sail for Mumbai. The Indian metropolis will be connected to Brussels Airport 5 times a week.

It will the first time that the Belgian airline lands on the Asian continent and it reinforces even more its hub in Brussels, in close cooperation with Star Alliance partner Air India.

PRESS RELEASE: https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/brussel ... bai-march/

Stij
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Re: Brussels Airlines to launch Bombay (Mumbai)

Post by Stij »

Freken wrote:It will the first time that the Belgian airline lands on the Asian continent ...
Isn't Tel Aviv in Asia?

Stij

SFM
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Re: Brussels Airlines to launch Bombay (Mumbai)

Post by SFM »

Stij wrote:
Freken wrote:It will the first time that the Belgian airline lands on the Asian continent ...
Isn't Tel Aviv in Asia?
Yes, and so is Antalya.

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sn26567
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by sn26567 »

SABENA last operated this sector in 1991...
André
ex Sabena #26567

DannyVDB
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by DannyVDB »

Hi all,

Great news!

I was a little bit puzzled by the figure of 50.000 pax going to Mumbai and that this is being the third most successful destination from Brussels ... I guess they mean Belgian pax, no; or do they mean people leaving and coming back, so 100.000 pax. According to the stats of BRU there several destinations with a lot more pax ...

http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/cf/res ... trends2015

Another question. Since they will use the new plane 5/7 for Mumbai, will we see additional frequencies for other destinations (if so, which ones), the start of a new destination in Africa (e.g. 2/7 to Bamako) or rather a less intense use of the aircraft?

Final question: what with Washington: will it become year-around?

Cheers,
Danny

Flanker2
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by Flanker2 »

Well done SN.
I think that this route will be moderately profitable. It won't be a huge success but it will still be a good route.
Good connections to/from Africa and U.S. will be important.

I hope that SN will slowly expand into Asia after booking a small success with BOM.

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luchtzak
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by luchtzak »

sn26567 wrote:SABENA last operated this sector in 1991...
And last Indian destination Chennai was in 1999

Sabena To Open New Brussels-Madras Service Oct 28, 1999

Sabena will open a new Brussels-Madras (Chennai) service on Nov. 2 and promote the links in the U.K. from eight airports, including London Heathrow and London City. The new nonstop service will be flown with Airbus A330-200s and will operate three times a week.

Freken
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Re: Brussels Airlines to launch Bombay (Mumbai)

Post by Freken »

Stij wrote: Isn't Tel Aviv in Asia?
Doesn't seem like it according to the SN PR departement! ;)

Passenger
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Re: Brussels Airlines to launch Bombay (Mumbai)

Post by Passenger »

Freken wrote:
Stij wrote: Isn't Tel Aviv in Asia?
Doesn't seem like it according to the SN PR departement!
Right or wrong? Depends how severe the judges are. They didn't say "in Asia", but "the Asian continent". And South Asia (with India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and others) is also known as "the Asian subcontinent".

"...As from March 2017 Brussels Airlines will set sail for Mumbai. The Indian metropolis will be connected to Brussels Airport 5 times a week. It will the first time that the Belgian airline lands on the Asian continent and it reinforces even more its hub in Brussels, in close cooperation with Star Alliance partner Air India..."
https://press.brusselsairlines.com/brus ... dia-again#

- - -

Anyway - on its route to AMS, Jet Airways will upgrade its A330-300 into B777-300ER as from end of October. I wonder if Jet Airways will keep the 777 on the route when Brussels Airlines is flying to Mumbai.

teddybAIR
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by teddybAIR »

DannyVDB wrote: I was a little bit puzzled by the figure of 50.000 pax going to Mumbai and that this is being the third most successful destination from Brussels ...
This will probably solve the matter...
The third most important intercontinental destination

DannyVDB
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by DannyVDB »

Hi teddybAIR,

Yes, but even if looking at the intercontinental flights only, these are the figures for 2015:

New York (Newark and JFK): 601.314
Washington: 289.395
Dubai: 209.476
Montreal: 180.628
Abu Dhabi: 171.407
Mumbai: 149.287

So I guess they refer only to the O&D pax (so people starting in Belgium heading for Mumbai itself), without the transfer and transit pax included ... But that's just an assumption.

Cheers,
Danny

domtom
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by domtom »

Press release says flight details to be released in September. What might it look like? Departure late morning (10ish or 11), then return early next morning?

crew1990
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by crew1990 »

I guess the departure will indeed be around 10.30 as it will make the transfer with the other north atlantic flight easier.

What I wonder is what they gonna do with the 10th aircraft as they could add more frequencies on other destination, my bet is that they will add at least one frequency to Toronto, the flight is performing really well!

LJ
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Re: Brussels Airlines to launch Bombay (Mumbai)

Post by LJ »

Passenger wrote:Anyway - on its route to AMS, Jet Airways will upgrade its A330-300 into B777-300ER as from end of October. I wonder if Jet Airways will keep the 777 on the route when Brussels Airlines is flying to Mumbai.
Why not? I doubt that the SN flight will have much of an impact on their core market (transfer pax to/from US). Moreover, they're the only ones operating AMS-BOM nonstop thus basically fill the void DL left (just as SN will fill the void left by 9W).
crew1990 wrote:I guess the departure will indeed be around 10.30 as it will make the transfer with the other north atlantic flight easier.
It's the only option if they want to catch the India - US market.

Inquirer
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by Inquirer »

Wow, this is very good news, not just for them, but for the airport and our nation's economy too of course!

We already knew they were seriously considering serving India on their own prior to the attacks of March, but the fact they still go ahead with the plan is very surprising to me because:
1- it takes them well out of their traditional comfort zone
2- it puts them in straight competition with the Arabian carriers in BRU, as well as many other airlines
3- it's the most ambitious route expansion ever launched by them, right at a very difficult time
4- they must have felt the impact of the attacks on Brussels most strongly on intercontinental demand

Personally, I would have thought that as a consequence of all of the above, they'd deploy that additional plane on order on a safer bet somewhere in Africa and postpone their plans on India for now, so a big thumbs up for sticking to their original plan!

They really seem to recover remarkably swiftly and steadily from the negative effects of 22/03, to the point they again grow faster than the airports or both BRU and even low cost heaven CRL, so they must be very confident about their future by doing this.

This news of today also gives a few hints as to what that future will bring for them post integration in the Lufthansa group, IMHO, as I do not think this strategic network upgrade hasn't first been talked through with their soon to be sole shareholder: somehow it does rebuke the idea about Lufthansa turning Brussels into just a low service regional airlines, as I can't see how that matches up with this type of recently launched global routes at all. (Toronto, Bombay,...)

I am sure BRU is very delighted by the news too and I wouldn't be surprised to lean they are helping wherever they can, because it they succeed on this one, it definitely demonstrates to Lufthansa they can turn BRU into a globally oriented hub and it could open up several other opportunities to grow the home carrier beyond just this one single Asian route: a Brussels Airlines focused on just the traditional routes a Belgian national airlines can be expected on is somehow limited in its size by natural demand on those routes, but a Brussels Airlines venturing beyond that traditional comfort zone can be seen to grow much bigger.

Finally, I also think it's nice for all the people who'll join their ranks soon, of course: 200 newly employed staff is no small beer!
http://www.demorgen.be/economie/200-ext ... -b655929b/

nordikcam
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by nordikcam »

Does anyone know if AI and maybe AC or UA will code share this new SN flight ? Thx

Poiu
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by Poiu »

DannyVDB wrote: Another question. Since they will use the new plane 5/7 for Mumbai, will we see additional frequencies for other destinations (if so, which ones), the start of a new destination in Africa (e.g. 2/7 to Bamako) or rather a less intense use of the aircraft?
Danny
A BOM rotation takes almost 24hrs and the old 300s will be struggling on the way back, factor in maintenance and their won't be any time left to do something else.

BRUpilot
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by BRUpilot »

nordikcam wrote:Does anyone know if AI and maybe AC or UA will code share this new SN flight ? Thx
In an article on Flightlevel and many other press publications, i read that SN will cooperate with AI (in terms of codesharing).

Article (in Dutch): Brussels Airlines zal voor deze nieuwe route nauw samenwerken met Star Alliance-partner Air India. Daardoor zullen passagiers kunnen overstappen in Mumbai voor een binnenlandse vlucht met Air India.

Translation: Brussels airlines will cooperate strongly with Air India. Passengers will be able to continue their journey from Mumbai to the rest of India with AI.

For AC and UA, I don't know, but it seems to me, as the route BRU-BOM with Jet Airways had quite a few codeshares, that could really be the case.

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sn26567
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Re: Brussels Airlines will start Mumbai from March 2017

Post by sn26567 »

It is exactly what was written in the SN press release, reproduced here on Luchtzak:

"Thanks to a collaboration with Star Alliance partner Air India, Brussels Airlines passengers can connect seamlessly on domestic flights to other Indian cities and regions. The Mumbai-Brussels flight schedule will allow connections to many European, African and American destinations in the Brussels Airlines network."

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/brussel ... bai-march/
André
ex Sabena #26567

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