Will Boston be the first SN operated US flight ?

Koenie666 · Post by **Koenie666** » 21 Jul 2006, 14:18

I would think that an airline which takes costs into account would strive to a single manufacturer fleet. It's in my opinion one of the best ways to keep overhead costs down. Especially with an airbus fleet.

So I think that SN / VEX will make a choice between boeing and airbus but then fleetwise.. not just add types at random....

fokker_f27 · Post by **fokker_f27** » 21 Jul 2006, 14:32

Koenie666 wrote:I would think that an airline which takes costs into account would strive to a single manufacturer fleet. It's in my opinion one of the best ways to keep overhead costs down. Especially with an airbus fleet.

So I think that SN / VEX will make a choice between boeing and airbus but then fleetwise.. not just add types at random....

But if the Airbus market falls, then you are stuck with Airbus types with almost no support. I would go for a mixed fleet.

Vinnie-Winnie · Post by **Vinnie-Winnie** » 21 Jul 2006, 14:39

Well how many airbuses does SN BRU + VEX have?

3 A333 + 3 A319 right? Knowing that at some point VEX will have to replace it's fleet of Boeing (More than 6!) I really don't see why acquiring 767 would be such a bad idea! After all it's not written anywhere that SN HAS to buy airbuses!

If 767's are cheaper, it's quit compelling to go for them!

And Boston seems to be a good idea for for Sn's come back to US! At the moment there are no direct links!

AlexanderM · Post by **AlexanderM** » 21 Jul 2006, 14:58

Vinnie-Winnie wrote:Knowing that at some point VEX will have to replace it's fleet of Boeing (More than 6!) I really don't see why acquiring 767 would be such a bad idea! After all it's not written anywhere that SN HAS to buy airbuses!

They could also decide to replace the VEX Boeings with Airbuses.

sab319 · Post by **sab319** » 21 Jul 2006, 15:27

I'm sure the people at SN know what they are doing

, it might very well be cheaper and more economical on the long run to get some cheap second hand 767's than add brand new yet extremely expensive A330's...

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 21 Jul 2006, 17:51

Vinnie-Winnie wrote:Well how many airbuses does SN BRU + VEX have?

3 A333 + 3 A319 right?

A little remark. Two of the three A319 are already sold for months. SNBA may fly with them for an unknow period. For the third A319 they are looking for a buyer.

I had send this post earlier in an other topic months ago.

C_J · Post by **C_J** » 22 Jul 2006, 10:16

Atlantis wrote: A little remark. Two of the three A319 are already sold for months. SNBA may fly with them for an unknow period. For the third A319 they are looking for a buyer.

What will happen to the routes operated by the A319's (probably this answer has already been given in a previous topic, but could someone repeat please?)?

For the long haul planes, the SN-board should analyse the pro's en contra's previously given in this topic. I have all faith that they have already done this and that they will make a good decision!

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 22 Jul 2006, 10:39

With the merger of SNBA and Virgin Express they will fly to 40 European destinations, that's less then the current situation. They will focus on important business cities. I think they will use some B737 of Virgin for the replacement of the A319.

xq1988bru · Post by **xq1988bru** » 22 Jul 2006, 15:18

Hey everybody,

In December 2004 Airliner World already mentioned that the lease of the Airbus A330-300s was about the end and that the Belgian carrier was considering either renewing the contract or replacing them with either Boeing 767-400s or Boeing 777s models. As the magazine is quite reliable, some of the rumours must be true

!

Personally, I think that there is no immediate need to connect Brussels with some more North American cities. American Airlines and SN Brussels Airlines codeshare on a lot of their flights from Brussels. Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines offer flights from Brussls to Atlanta and Newark, both important hubs, and both companies offer excellent connections. United serves Washington and San Francisco from Brussels too. Every destination (Atlanta, Chicago O'hare, New York JFK, Newark,Washington and San Fransisco) is served on a daily basis. We shouldn't forget that Sabena,CityBird,VG Airlines and even Air Belgium at one point tried out several other destinations (=Dallas, Boston, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Miami, Orlando, Oakland, Las Vegas and Fort Myers)in the US, without much succes. Loads were very poor or slots were inauspicious. As Montreal is already served by Canadian carrier Air Transat and Etihad Airlines offer excellent links to Toronto in codeshare with SN Brussels Airlines, there is no immediate need to buy more equipment to serve the once rather lucrative Candian market.

SN Brussels Airlines currently serves 14 destinations in Africa (Abidjan, Banjul, Casablanca, Conakry, Dakar, Douala, Entebbe, Freetown, Kigali, Kinshasa, Luanda, Monravia, Nairobi And Yaounde). Virtually all flights are codeshare flights with American Airlines, Royal Air Maroc or even Air Sénégal International. I thinks it might be a very good idea to lease or buy more Airbus A330s or even bigger equipment to serve more destinations in Africa. Brazzaville, Libreville, Lagos, Mombassa, Bujumbura, Kampala, Lomé, Cotonou, Malabo or Ougadougou might be added to the SN network if it appears that there is sufficient demand. Cape Town or Johannesburg could be considered too, but we shouldn't forget that Sabena and Sobelair both dropped their routes to South Africa before their demise due to high operating costs and very low revenues. SN Brussels is also planning to start a new airline in Cameroon after the demise of the country's flag-carrier Cameroon Airlines. New equipment is therefore required. If they are planning to start flights to Europe soon, the Boeing 767-400 or Boeing 767-300 might be suitable. We shouldn't forget that after the demise of the mutli-national African carrier Air Afrique and Air Gabon, many countries in West-Africa don't have links to Europe or the US anymore. It is very likely that the new carrier could fill up the gap. It might be a good idea to link Brussels and Kinshasa twice daily as the route has turned out to be very lucrative. Nowadays, political issues between both countries make it virtually impossible for the Belgian national carrier to operate more than 4 flights a week. Both Congolese carrier Hewa Bora Airways and Spanish-Congolese carrier Bravo (this airline should start flights later this year) are tough concurrents. Ethiopian Airlines, which has recently started flying to Brussels from Addis Abeba via Paris CHDG, can be considered as another concurrent too.

I think that SN Brussels Airlines shouldn't add more destinations in Asia or the Middle East . Nowadays, Beirut, Aleppo, Damascus, Cairo,I stanbul, Tel Aviv, Larnaca, Shanghai, Beijing, Abu Dhabi and some typical holiday destinations in Egypt are linked to Brussels. Until the early '90s, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Sobelair, Asiana, MEA and Sabena tried out several other destinations such as Amman, Ovda, Cairo, Teheran, Osaka, Tokyo and even Seoul, but most of the routes were stopped due to very low demand or political reasons. All Nippon Airlines was planning to start flying to Brussels from Tokyo, but until today,the plans of the company stay rather vague. SN Brussels has an excellent codeshare agreement with Etihad, a Gulf carrier that links Brussels with Abu Dhabi and offer great connections for the SN-passengers.

Greetings,
Christophe B.

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 22 Jul 2006, 21:09

xq1988bru wrote: All Nippon Airlines was planning to start flying to Brussels from Tokyo, but until today,the plans of the company stay rather vague.

fftopic: About ANA, its a problem about slots. They want to come, that's not the problem.

And like I mentioned in an other topic, BIAC is in talk with Thai about a direct route from Bangkok to Brussels. Jet Airways, Mumbai, is also in the pipeline for 2007. As known, SNBA wants to code share on that route. And BIAC is also in talk for a direct route to Cape Town.

FlightSimCrew · Post by **FlightSimCrew** » 24 Jul 2006, 11:12

I believe it is always great to hear you guys speculate on any fleet replacement. I think that in this 500th topic started on the "new fleet", we have read all possible aircraft types likely to be introduced in the SN/VEX future fleet with all pro's and con's.. Actually one could write a final paper on this matter.

It surprises me I haven't read any idea on increasing the fleet with 20 long haul a/c and 100 brand new A320 or B737!!

obviously all members posting still have some rational / logic.

I would suggest you keep posting and entertaining us guys.. keep up the rumours !

sn-remember · Post by **sn-remember** » 24 Jul 2006, 13:30

xq1988bru wrote:
SN Brussels Airlines currently serves 14 destinations in Africa (Abidjan, Banjul, Casablanca, Conakry, Dakar, Douala, Entebbe, Freetown, Kigali, Kinshasa, Luanda, Monravia, Nairobi And Yaounde). Virtually all flights are codeshare flights with American Airlines, Royal Air Maroc or even Air Sénégal International. I thinks it might be a very good idea to lease or buy more Airbus A330s or even bigger equipment to serve more destinations in Africa. Brazzaville, Libreville, Lagos, Mombassa, Bujumbura, Kampala, Lomé, Cotonou, Malabo or Ougadougou might be added to the SN network if it appears that there is sufficient demand.

Kampala 's airport is Entebbe... so no need to add it on your list of candidate cities since it is already served

As for the speculations ... there were so many here since so long !
Wait and see and hope that the much needed expansion can materialize through sensible management.

ATC · Post by **ATC** » 26 Jul 2006, 21:18

Rumours also are that Hainin wants to fly to Boston in the near future.
Are we missing something ?

Wasn't there a "rumour" a few years ago if everything works out for Hainin in BRU they would create a little BRU hub.

ok... I know many rumours.... little facts...
(But "waar rook is, is vuur...".)

ATC

Sabena_690 · Post by **Sabena_690** » 26 Jul 2006, 21:35

ATC wrote:ok... I know many rumours.... little facts...
(But "waar rook is, is vuur...".)ATC

The only thing I notice however in certain topics (think about new SN widebodies, the merger,...) is a lot of "verstikkende rook" and perhaps a very very little bit of "vuur" here and there...

Hot weather seems to stimulate the fantasies of a lot of people! Bert Anciaux isn't the only one with mental problems it seems...

Don't take this personal, ATC, I'm talking about the "news"-topics in general

Frederic

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 26 Jul 2006, 22:21

ATC wrote:Rumours also are that Hainin wants to fly to Boston in the near future.
Are we missing something ?

Wasn't there a "rumour" a few years ago if everything works out for Hainin in BRU they would create a little BRU hub.

ok... I know many rumours.... little facts...
(But "waar rook is, is vuur...".)

ATC

Hi ATC,

The rumours of a small hub for Hainan at BRU were given by Hainan itselfs. So don't be a shame if this is true or not. Most of us have info from any kind of source. And if there are no rumours or news there was also no site like Luchtzak. I'm saying this in general.

But, back to the topic. We have to wait about the results of the Hainan flights. At least a year. The intention of Hainan was to create a small hub to serve Boston out of BRU and some African countries.
I read also today at A.net that Hainan wants to lease 5 A330's. Maybe to replace the B767 till they will receice the B787. It's quite certain they will serve Boston.

Don't forget that BRU is only their second city out of China, so they have not that much experience about that.
But don't let it fly away and keep it in mind.