Brussels Airlines future and financial perspective

[FlightMate]

I agree with airaxuxtor.

They won't 'lose' money if they fill an empty seat with a pax paying 69€ (even staff travelers are beneficial to the bottom line)
If the plane is full of 69€ pax, that's something else.
And of course, the plan of offering low fares would be to attract new passengers, not to offer discounted seats to passengers who would otherwise be ready to pay 150€+

[cnc]

is 99 euro's not cheap enough?
if you burn more fuel due to the extra weight then you generate money with these low ends you only make it worse
ecologically a flight for 69 euro to lets say spain isn't even justifiable...

[FlightMate]

The extra fuel consumption is negligible, really.
For example, on a 12h flight, the extra fuel for a 100kg pax (80kg + 20kg luggage) is between 25 and 40 kg. (depending on aircraft type)

The only reason I see for not taking 69euros pax, is if you had the possibility to sell the same ticket (seat) at a more expensive price.

[airazurxtror]

ecologically a flight for 69 euro to lets say spain isn't even justifiable...

Ecologically, the "pollution" is the same whatever the price you have paid, be it 69 or 690 euros ...
Ecologically, the best would be that everybody stay home.

[White Light]

They won't 'lose' money if they fill an empty seat with a pax paying 69€ (even staff travelers are beneficial to the bottom line)If the plane is full of 69€ pax, that's something else.

SN, like other airlines, must have their statistics. They must know that on flight SNxxxx from A to B on day 1 of the week, for instance, on average, the flight leaves with, let's say, 25 empty seats. So, on that particular flight, they will offer 25 tickets at the bottom fare. All the rest if advertising and attracting potential customers to their website (like all other airlines and especially LCCs do).

is 99 euro's not cheap enough?if you burn more fuel due to the extra weight then you generate money with these low ends you only make it worseecologically a flight for 69 euro to lets say spain isn't even justifiable...

Imho, 99 euros is definitely cheap enough for a round trip in Europe.

Ecologically, the best would be that everybody stay home.

The problem arises when it is cheaper (or not more expensive) to fly for a short trip to Barcelona (for instance) than to take the car or the train to the Belgian Coast or the Ardennes.

[airazurxtror]

The problem arises when it is cheaper (or not more expensive) to fly for a short trip to Barcelona (for instance) than to take the car or the train to the Belgian Coast or the Ardennes.

The real problem is when you go to the Belgian Coast or the Ardennes because you cannot afford to go to Barcelona.
I think that everybody has a right to cultivate himself and is entitled to go and see the beautiful, historical, interesting places of Europe (at least) if he so desires.
There are many cities worth seeing : London, Munich, Stockholm, Prague, Wien, Budapest, Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelone, Rome, Milano, Venice, to name but a few. They can now be reached at a reasonnable cost, and it's a goo thing, in my view.
If the "ecolos" don't want to fly, it's their choice and I won't object. I just demand that they let others fly as they want.

[White Light]

The "Greens" will let you fly as much as you want if you pay extra to offset your CO2 emissions just like you have to pay to get rid of the waste your produce (household waste and other - déchets ménagers/huishoudelijk afval) and you may fly as much as you want as far as I am concerned as long as airlines don't get "preferential" treatment from certain airports.

[cnc]

The problem arises when it is cheaper (or not more expensive) to fly for a short trip to Barcelona (for instance) than to take the car or the train to the Belgian Coast or the Ardennes.

The real problem is when you go to the Belgian Coast or the Ardennes because you cannot afford to go to Barcelona.
I think that everybody has a right to cultivate himself and is entitled to go and see the beautiful, historical, interesting places of Europe (at least) if he so desires.
There are many cities worth seeing : London, Munich, Stockholm, Prague, Wien, Budapest, Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelone, Rome, Milano, Venice, to name but a few. They can now be reached at a reasonnable cost, and it's a goo thing, in my view.
If the "ecolos" don't want to fly, it's their choice and I won't object. I just demand that they let others fly as they want.

ok so you like to pay taxes so its possible to fly cheap because you think everybody has the right to fly and visit places.
in other words you are willing to pay even more taxes so our goverment can provide everybody with cheaper cars and gasoline because if its a right to fly then it sure is a right to be mobile in your local area!
next thing you'll say is its a right for every person to have 80 inch LCD TV to watch the news?

[Airbus330lover]

They tried this system long time ago in some countries

[Inquirer]

Interesting discussion about "eco taxes", but wouldn't it be a good idea to split it off from this topic and create a new one dedicated to it? Especially in light of the intention of our future government to shift the tax burden away from labour taxes and more towards consumption and eco taxes, this could proof to be an interesting topic.

My personal contribution to the new topic:

I personally feel very strongly for the principle that people need to pay the full price for what they want in life, hence my general dislike of aviation subsidies for instance. Social corrections (and thus public co)funding) are appropriate only whenever the need is elementary and the personal means are insufficient to gain access to it; other than that, public funding should not be used to pay for personal pleasures like air travel.

When it comes to the ecological burden air travel undeniably poses on our planet and thus our children, I think that indeed it would be a good idea to look into the different mechanisms which make air travel cheaper than ground travel these days, and one of those is that aviation fuel for instance is still untaxed.

The prime purpose of air travel is to get you from A to B quickly. In a levelled competitive landscape, whenever a product comes with a premium commercial advantage like massively shorter processing times, is also comes with a considerably higher price, yet somehow this is not the case in aviation any longer, on one side thanks to the huge efficiency gains the aviation industry has made over the years, but on the other side also because of a very favourable fiscal environment it is allowed to operate in.

It might indeed be appropriate to ask the question whether or not it is still justified for governments not to levy any taxes on the fuel used to send people from A to B through the air, whereas those same people do pay full taxes on the energy used to get them from A to B whenever they don't leave the ground?

I realise it would make aviation fuel much more expensive (say rougly 50%) and as such it would make tickets itself way more expensive too (say 15 to 20%), but it would unveil the true cost of flying on a comparative scale vs any other means of transport, while letting people decide for themselves if they still think it is worthwile to use the plane for their trips, including those with a zero return on investment, and it would allow governments to use these extra tax revenues to lower labour costs, something we urgently need in Europe.

Of course, the above can only succeed if done on a transnational scale, but when it is, i doubt it woud make aviation as a whole unviable. All those flying for business will still do so given the return on investment is still worthwile, but it would indeed take out a lof of those people who fly out to say Milan for the day just to have a cappuccino there, but then does society need to cope with the costly long term consequences of such kind of pretty purposeless flying? I don't think so.

[woutertheboy]

Significant growth in July

Tuesday 12 August, 2014 — Brussels Airlines registered a significant passenger growth during the past month of July. In total the airline welcomed 648,013 guests on board, an increase of 11.4%

The month of July confirms the growth trend that Brussels Airlines has been registering since the beginning of the year. Compared to July 2013, the number of passengers grew by more than 68,000. The European flight offer, which has a strong emphasis on southern holiday destinations in July, attracted 13 percent more passengers. The airline’s flights to Africa and the States also recorded positive results, with passenger increases of 3.5 and 2.1 percent respectively.

The overall seat load factor improved by 3 percentage points. On flights to and from Africa, an increase of 5.2 percent was recorded.

One of the highlights of July was the Tomorrowland flight program that Brussels Airlines organized for the third year in a row. As the official airline, Brussels Airlines flew 15,000 visitors from all over the world to the popular dance festival.

In addition to its scheduled flight activity, Brussels Airlines operated many holiday flights for tour operators, meeting and incentive agencies and sports clubs. The most important event last month was without a doubt Red Devils flight ‘SN2014’. Passenger figures for these charter activities are not included in the monthly figures of this press release.

difference in % between July 2013/2014
Passengers
648,013 - 2014
581,954 - 2013
+ 11.4
Available seat-kilometres (in millions)
1387.15 - 2014
1343.82 - 2013
+ 3.2
Revenue Passenger-kilometres (in millions)
1107.48 - 2014
1026.49 - 2013
+ 7.9
Freight ton-kilometres
14,936 - 2014
14.813 - 2013
+ 0.8
Overall Loadfactor (Passengers & Freight)
72.0% - 2014
69.3% - 2013
+ 2.7 pct point
Passenger Load Factor
81.8% -2014
78.8% -2013
+ 3.0 pct point

Source: Brussels Airlines

[RoMax]

Must be the first time ever that I see a 80%+ pax loadfactor for SN

[Flanker2]

I think that the views expressed here are very naive.
If the tax money isn't used to pay for cheaper air travel, it will be used for something else that will probably not benefit the working people.

Sure, tax money shouldn't be used to pay for our leisure and pleasures, but please tell that to the thousands who are milking our system without having to do a nick for it and playing Playstation at home.

I consider this to be the only benefit to myself, in return for the many taxes I pay, so I wouldn't accept that even this would be taken away. Socil security is becoming a joke in Belgium, everywhere you go you have to pay a huge chunk out of your pocket to be taken care by second tier Dutch doctors and nurses who are willing to do the same job for less money and frankly aren't good at it. If they were good, they would have gotten a job at home.
Now they even want to make retirees pay for public transportation, instead of thanking them for their service.

I'm already ready to pack my bags and take my business elsewhere.

[sn26567]

Bernard Gustin, CEO of Brussels Airlines, is aiming at a quarter more passengers and 1,000 additional jobs in 2018. But the Belgian airports need to work better together.

The other airlines stop one by one, but the successor to Sabena has no intention to interrupt its flights to the Ebola countries. "Brussels Airlines has always been of the opinion that countries already severely affected should not be let you down. Many passengers, including MSF, cannot do without our flights," says the CEO in an interview with De Tijd and L'Echo. But the geopolitical situation and the epidemic do leave traces. The long-haul operations perform less well than expected, while the European ones do better, despite the arrival of Ryanair at Zaventem.

Brussels Airlines earlier this year increased its offer considerably. On Tuesday it disclosed a passenger growth of 11.4 percent in July. Less than its home base Brussels Airport, but a remarkable increase nevertheless. Moreover, the load factors are becoming healthier. And it does not stop there. CEO Bernard Gustin shows himself very ambitious. "We assume that the number of passengers will increase from 6 million to 8 million in 2018, and now that employment will grow from 3,500 to 4,500. And I'm not even talking about the indirect jobs ." He adds: "Despite the crisis, we have not fired anybody." But the legal and economic framework must change.

"We need that aviation becomes a priority area for development for our country under a federal and inter-regional governance," says Gustin. "The various airports need to be used in a coordinated manner, each with its specialty and with the same shareholders." Should Charleroi and other airports to be privatized and sold to the shareholders of Brussels Airport? "For example, yes. In this way, it would put an end to the unfair competition, provided that the European social legislation is harmonized". As a company based in Ireland Ryanair enjoys much lower taxes and social charges.

"Air transport offers an exceptional opportunity to create jobs in Belgium", ensures Gustin. "Look what KLM realized with Schiphol and Swiss with Zurich. We have everything it takes to also ensure the same: the European capital, a good infrastructure, a "home carrier" with a high-quality reference shareholder and experience in local and African markets". But then the new Government must grab the bull by the horns and come up with a global aviation plan. Earlier Johan Decuyper, CEO of Belgocontrol, already pleaded for a comprehensive aviation legislation. This was done in response to the noise problems around Zaventem.

Gustin does not shut up about the expected results of 2014 "They are in line with our budget and we should do better than last year (28.1 million operating loss)."

Remarkably, Brussels Airlines has not yet received the promised 15 million euros for security costs that will be paid through Brussels Airport. However, that amount is well included in the financial statement in 2013, which was adopted on 10 March and was deposited at the National Bank on 27 June. Earlier this year the government made retroactively the amount of 30 million euros available for the biggest airlines in Zaventem, all Belgian, to compensate for the discrepancies on social and fiscal charges of foreign competitors.

After De Tijd and L'Echo.

[RoMax]

The other airlines stop one by one, but the successor to Sabena has no intention to interrupt its flights to the Ebola countries. "Brussels Airlines has always been of the opinion that countries already severely affected should not be let you down. Many passengers, including MSF, cannot do without our flights," says the CEO in an interview with De Tijd and L'Echo. But the geopolitical situation and the epidemic do leave traces.

The WHO placed a message on Twitter that they are disappointed when airlines stop flying to West-Africa due to Ebola, as it is "Hard to save lives if we & other health workers can not get in".

[FlightMate]

I don't believe they are flying to ebola-land just for charity, really.
It must be bringing a lot of revenue. And even more since others stopped flying there.

Safety first? After money, of course.

The new jobs and growth are welcome news, though.

[RoMax]

I don't believe they are flying to ebola-land just for charity, really.
It must be bringing a lot of revenue. And even more since others stopped flying there.

Of course they are not flying for charity, but SN knows they transport lots and lots of health workers, as well as cargo supporting these people. That makes it still commercially lucrative to operate these routes despite the drop in 'normal' passengers and at the same they also deliver support to the WHO and others.

Airlines like SN and AF (that continue flying to West-Africa) have very good relations with numerous organisations that are active in Africa (and even more now because of the Ebola outbreak). That probably makes it more attractive for these airlines to continue flying to these destinations, compared to airlines that do not have these historic relations/connections, especially as many of these organisations are run from Europe and North-America, with AF and SN offering the best connections for these people.

But it always sounds nicer if you say you are flying to support the fight against Ebola, instead of saying that you continue flying because the epidemic resulted in another kind, but still lucrative public.

[airazurxtror]

Still no mention of the new fares (Check&Go, Light&Relax, etc) ...
The sales of the new products will start in Mid-August, after the travel agencies have been drilled. The new classes of service will be effective on 1 September.

The rest : just a lot of hot air, as usual.

About the expected results of 2014 : "They are in line with our budget and we should do better than last year (28.1 million operating loss)."
More than likely meaning : one more hefty loss - even with the expected subsidies.

[RoMax]

Still no mention of the new fares (Check&Go, Light&Relax, etc) ...
The sales of the new products will start in Mid-August, after the travel agencies have been drilled. The new classes of service will be effective on 1 September.

The rest : just a lot of hot air, as usual.

I think André already explained the details of the new fare classes, explained at the press conference, quite well on this forum. About the launch of sales, I believe I read 15 August somewhere.

I do not really understand what the problem is... It's the 14th, you can see 16-20 August also as 'mid of August', it's not like you caught them on a lie and they have been talking hot air about the launch date.

[tolipanebas]

Still no mention of the new fares (Check&Go, Light&Relax, etc) ...

Just a little bit more of your patience and you'll be able to check and go (sic) to our numerous European destinations for as little 69 euro return, including airport check-in (so no need to waste your own colour cartridges at home printing off pages of advertisements of others), free seat selection, unrushed jet bridge boarding, a complementary newspaper, quiet flights throughout the day and the most generous hand luggage allowance of all, offered in a cabin with more personal space than that of the competition too.
Understandable you are excited to switch to us for your frequent leisure travel; millions more are expected to do so too.