Brussels Airlines' fleet renewal

[teach]

Old , used seats.
Cannot be reclined far enough.

TAP problem, not 'old A330' problem. Change the seats like most airlines do every so many years, problem solved.

Plane probably over 20 years old. It showed its age.

Again, TAP problem, not 'old A330' problem. If the airline regularly freshens up the cabin, you don't have that problem.

Inflight entertainment system obsolete.

You know where this is going, right? Yup: TAP problem, not 'old A330' problem.

You know, people like new planes.

People generally don't care if the plane is new or old. People generally don't have the faintest clue whether a plane is new or old. What people care about is whether the interior (by which they mean the seats) looks nice, the seats are comfortable, whether they've got enough room and if the video system is good enough. Just like you described. And none of these are related to aircraft age if the airline regularly updates its interiors, the way SN does. In fact, if a passenger steps onto a 20 year-old A330 that has just had the cabin refreshed, with 8-abreast seating, and then onto a factory-fresh 787 with 9-abreast seating (the way most airlines configure them today), the odds are they're going to prefer the 20 year-old A330.

It seems their new owners will invest in new fleet, mainly Airbusses.
Let us hope the same for SN.

As SN has renewed the interiors of all its Airbuses (both A319/320 and A330) in the last few years, the odds are passengers will hardly notice the difference if they were to get factory-fresh planes.

[Duke]

As SN has renewed the interiors of all its Airbuses (both A319/320 and A330) in the last few years, the odds are passengers will hardly notice the difference if they were to get factory-fresh planes.

Well, just one remark though..
A passenger does notice if the screens above the seats are working or not.
The screens with the moving map, even in shorthaul flights, provide nice info about routing, height, time to destination...
If I had the chance between an airline having them and one not having them, I'd go for the former..
Too bad not all SN's A319/320's have the screens working (or just a few having them actually), even if they did refurbish the interiors of the planes...

Regards,

Duke

[teach]

Well, just one remark though..
A passenger does notice if the screens above the seats are working or not.
The screens with the moving map, even in shorthaul flights, provide nice info about routing, height, time to destination...
If I had the chance between an airline having them and one not having them, I'd go for the former..
Too bad not all SN's A319/320's have the screens working (or just a few having them actually), even if they did refurbish the interiors of the planes...

Regards,

Duke

Besides the fact that the number of people who base their carrier choice on whether there are flip-down screens with a moving map for a two-hour flight can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand, many newly delivered A320s don't even have these screens. Again, this is not an issue related to the age of the aircraft, but to the choice of the customer.

[JOVAN]

Of course I do not have the arrogance to think that I know what the majority of almost all PAX think and like.

My point was that it was very refreshing to see that Latin American airlines are surprisingly modern and attractive.

For me, flying in a very new aircraft is giving me an extra feeling of safety and of course more comfort.

Like a new car gives me good feeling, every 3 years. It will normally be trouble free, comfortable, have the newest 'gadgets', and above all more and extra safety.

Teach seems to know -for sure- that most PAX do not care for that.........

[teach]

Teach seems to know -for sure- that most PAX do not care for that.........

No, teach knows that the very large majority of airline passengers haven't got a clue how old their plane is, and even more don't let aircraft age be a factor in their decision making process.

And as for safety, I'd much rather be on a 29 year-old Delta MD-80 than on a Lion Air 737-900ER or A320 that was delivered fresh from the factory last week. That I know for sure.

[Jetter]

Again, this is not an issue related to the age of the aircraft, but to the choice of the customer.

If you check the reviews of SN at airlinequality.com you'll see that customers are complaining about 'old and worn' aircraft. Maybe that's the reason of SN's horrible rating, it's below Iberia, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, BA and even lower than AIR KORYO

[Passenger]

Again, this is not an issue related to the age of the aircraft, but to the choice of the customer.

If you check the reviews of SN at airlinequality.com you'll see that customers are complaining about 'old and worn' aircraft. Maybe that's the reason of SN's horrible rating, it's below Iberia, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, BA and even lower than AIR KORYO

I fully support Airlinequality.com and also their A-Z Airline Seat Reviews: "...The leading global guide for Customer reviews and ratings of airline seats, featuring the latest passenger reviews of airline seat comfort. Airline seat rating includes seat legroom, seat width, in-seat power facilities and seat storage space..."

Brussels Airlines: Customer rating from 5 reviews: 3/10. Repeat: five reviews. 5. I rest my case.

[JOVAN]

Again, this is not an issue related to the age of the aircraft, but to the choice of the customer.

If you check the reviews of SN at airlinequality.com you'll see that customers are complaining about 'old and worn' aircraft. Maybe that's the reason of SN's horrible rating, it's below Iberia, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, BA and even lower than AIR KORYO

Lower than AIR KORYO ????????????
Cannot believe....

I think its time to buy a few new planes for SN.

[Passenger]

Lower than AIR KORYO ???????????? Cannot believe....

You don't have to believe it: it's not true. Brussels Airlines is a three star airline, Air Koryo is a one star airline.

[Avroflyer]

I don't really trust such ratings, people who usually take to time to gives those are disgruntled one way or another besides on seat comfort (which in my opinion reflects what the writers think about the cabin) SN scores 3/5 which is on par with BA,LH,...

On the field pax are very positive about the interior (which to me is more important than some reviews on a site) in particular on the A330 + the long haul product will get even better but more on that will follow very soon

[Jetter]

Lower than AIR KORYO ???????????? Cannot believe....

You don't have to believe it: it's not true. Brussels Airlines is a three star airline, Air Koryo is a one star airline.

That's the rating by Skytrax. The rating of SN by customers is 5/10 http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-r ... -airlines/ AIR KORYO has a rating of 6/10: http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-r ... air-koryo/

I don't really trust such ratings, people who usually take to time to gives those are disgruntled one way or another besides on seat comfort (which in my opinion reflects what the writers think about the cabin) SN scores 3/5 which is on par with BA,LH,...

The problem that disgruntled passengers are more likely to review applies equally to all airlines, still SN has a low rating compared to other airlines. IFE has a very low rating, that also has to do with the cabin and old fleet.

[Avroflyer]

Lower than AIR KORYO ???????????? Cannot believe....

You don't have to believe it: it's not true. Brussels Airlines is a three star airline, Air Koryo is a one star airline.

That's the rating by Skytrax. The rating of SN by customers is 5/10 http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-r ... -airlines/ AIR KORYO has a rating of 6/10: http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-r ... air-koryo/

I don't really trust such ratings, people who usually take to time to gives those are disgruntled one way or another besides on seat comfort (which in my opinion reflects what the writers think about the cabin) SN scores 3/5 which is on par with BA,LH,...

The problem that disgruntled passengers are more likely to review applies equally to all airlines, still SN has a low rating compared to other airlines. IFE has a very low rating, that also has to do with the cabin and old fleet.

So Jetter let's just make a comparison here: lets say SN gets a shiny factory new 330 with the current cabin placed in it and put it next to the oldest 330 in the fleet... would you really think that would influence ratings?

Because it would still be exact the same IFE, same seats etc so a "normal" traveller wouldn't notice a difference

Same goes for the MH fleet where indeed a point could be that not every aircraft has IFE but for flights that are on average 1h30 long you don't really have a opportunity to provide lots of entertainment options besides perhaps an airshow.

[Conti764]

Lower than AIR KORYO ???????????? Cannot believe....

You don't have to believe it: it's not true. Brussels Airlines is a three star airline, Air Koryo is a one star airline.

That's the rating by Skytrax. The rating of SN by customers is 5/10 http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-r ... -airlines/ AIR KORYO has a rating of 6/10: http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-r ... air-koryo/

I don't really trust such ratings, people who usually take to time to gives those are disgruntled one way or another besides on seat comfort (which in my opinion reflects what the writers think about the cabin) SN scores 3/5 which is on par with BA,LH,...

The problem that disgruntled passengers are more likely to review applies equally to all airlines, still SN has a low rating compared to other airlines. IFE has a very low rating, that also has to do with the cabin and old fleet.

I did a quick overview and noticed some things:

Most people complain about service. A shame, but has nothing to do with age of the planes.

Some complain about the fact they've got a low cost experience while expecting a full service. Their own faukt, check the fare you are traveling on.

I see a clear breakdown between short haul and long haul, the latter getting overall good ratings. Surprisingly the long haul is flown with the oldest average fleet. Or not surprisingly to me and others...

Maybe it isn't a bad idea after all to shift short haul to Eurowings, so customers know they're boarding a low cost plane, and keep the best performing routes fror SN...

[Avroflyer]

I wouldn't be that drastic to say SH has to go Eurowings... Most people flying are really familiar with the service they can expect , sometimes mishaps do happen and what I usually hear is that the travel agency promises a full service while booking them in Light&Relax so there is a little unfortunate breakdown there.

[teach]

Again, this is not an issue related to the age of the aircraft, but to the choice of the customer.

If you check the reviews of SN at airlinequality.com you'll see that customers are complaining about 'old and worn' aircraft. Maybe that's the reason of SN's horrible rating, it's below Iberia, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, BA and even lower than AIR KORYO

Alright, I just made the mistake to start reading through those reviews on airlinequality. Took me three friggin' pages to finally get to a review where 'old and worn planes' were mentioned, or anything of the sort. Only other references to the plane itself I had read on those pages were 'nice and clean', 'clean' and 'the plane was new (!)'. And from the rest of the review of the passenger referring to the 'old and worn' planes, it appears he's talking about an Avro. And they've got ... old interiors that haven't been updated in years.

[teach]

That's the rating by Skytrax. The rating of SN by customers is 5/10

You do know what Skytrax ratings are based on, right?

That's right: on the customers.

IFE has a very low rating, that also has to do with the cabin and old fleet.

No, it most certainly does not! What on earth does that have to do with the 'old fleet'???

[Avroflyer]

On a lighter note... here is the 1st pic of OO-SFX as it has been ferried SIN-ATH-BOD at this time

[lumumba]

One thing I noticed the windows of the SN planes of the A320 family are all scratched and with humidity in the A330 family.
But that's not a big problem for most of the passagers.
But for somebody like my that like to look with binoculars true the window it's a problem.
Can somebody say me way it's like that?
I flew with a Lufhansa plane that was 26 years old and the windows where clean.
For the rest all the interior of the Airbus fleet of SN is fine.

[sean1982]

That's the rating by Skytrax. The rating of SN by customers is 5/10

You do know what Skytrax ratings are based on, right?

That's right: on the customers.

No teach, the stars are given by skytrax
The score is given by passengers

[Inquirer]

On a lighter note... here is the 1st pic of OO-SFX as it has been ferried SIN-ATH-BOD at this time

Nice find!
Any idea why this plane went to Bordeaux?
When will it come over to Brussels airport?