SN's 4th A330-300 has arrived at BRU!

[beaucaire]

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/ge ... n/3451846/

Interesting. I hope they'll go Boeing, although I think it will be Airbus. Because we must be 'good Europeans'

What kind of crappy reply is this ???
An airline has economic parameters to consider.If you have an existing fleet of A330's with a pool of trained pilots,you don't neccessarily want to swap a whole fleet and re-train the whole gang onto a non-fly by wire aircraft ...

[Andries]

It is looking into renewing its fleet with two aircraft types from the same family for its medium- and long-haul flights, plus one regional jet.

So 2 aircraft for medium & Long-haul of the same family ... my guess would be A330-200 and A330-300. Lately we've seen several airlines using A330-200 on medium routes, like Egypt Air and Air Algerie, so it's a possibility. Both the A330-200 and -300 could alsoi be used on the african network.

One Regional jet for the short range routes ... I would guess they'd going for the EMB-170, 175 and some 190's. But if it should be just 1 type, I would guess on the 175. A slightly smaller pax capacity than the RJ100, but a slightly larger range and offcourse, better fueleconomics !

So my prediction would be EMB-175, A330-200 and A330-300.

Any comments are welcome !

Greetz,

Andries

[OrientThai]

Well as the CEO has stated it depends if the new model works. So if it works I can see the following order:

A mix of A318/A319/A320 replacing the B737s and some RJ100s for more capacity and enabling SN to open new routes to North Africa or the Middle-East.
A few A330-300s though Airbus might offer a good deal for this new A350XWB in order to promote their new model.
And finally the EMB170 replacing the RJ85s and the Bae146s for routes needing less capacity. But then what about the regional jet from Sukhoi? These will certainly be cheaper...

For an airline like SN, short on money the price will play an important part in the final decision so if Boeing is offering the best price I don't see why SN wouldn't operate the B787 and the B737NG.

So my prediction would be EMB-175, A330-200 and A330-300.

Why operate the A330-200, SN doesn't need the range of this variant (unless they are planning to fly to NRT off course ) while the A330-300 can offer more seats and more cargo (very important for the African operation). Moreover if SN is only operating the EMB175 (less than 100 seats) what about the popular European routes served by the B737s (more than 100 seats)? The A330-200? Well SN is neither Emirates nor Singapore Airlines So they will probably operate something between the EMB190 and the A320.

But what I really want to know is how are they going to find the necessary funds to place this order? With a leasing company? Or the so long-awaited investor...?

[C-46commando]

Why operate the A330-200, SN doesn't need the range of this variant (unless they are planning to fly to NRT off course ) while the A330-300 can offer more seats and more cargo

Your analysis on the A330-200 is not good, and here is why. First of all the -200 has the same engine thrust as the -300. It carries less PAX meaning less luggage. And finally the MTOW for the -200 is higher. SO; same engine thrust + less PAX + higher MTOW = more available weight for Cargo on the -200, and as you said cargo is important. Indeed in terms of volume the -200 offers less space for cargo, but in terms of weight it is better, and with the type of cargo SN transports its not too much of a problem since they are rather dense cargo, except for flowers.

Also to note is that due to the arguments above, the -200 is simply better to operate on NBO, EBB, KGL.

[MiStEr-T]

I think it will be Airbus too.

06 A350 (2 A330F ?)
02 A321
05 A320
04 A319 (2 A319ER ?)

04 E190
10 E175
04 E170
10 ERJ145

[AirDupont]

mister T? where did you get those numbers from? Thumbsucking?

[Pikey]

Most probably....

[Pikey]

Question: apprently the leasing contract for the Avro's is untill 2010-2011. No orders have been placed as we speak, will there be a fleet renewal you think? With all the orders Sukhoi en Embraer already have I think they won't be able to deliver aircraft by 2010-2011. What doy YOU yhink on this?

Regards

[Air Key West]

If b.air wants to compete with AF-KL on the African market, I think they should use their 4th A330 to increase frequencies to existing destinations. High yield (business) passengers want daily flights so they can change reservations easily when their business schedules change. Daily flights should be considered (traffic rights permitting) to Dakar, Abidjan/Accra, Kinshasa and Entebbe/Nairobi.
And if there is a fifth A330 on the way, would it not be a good idea to use it to fly to Miami (which is not served directly from BRU by AA and will probably not be served by Jet Airways, either).
Has anybody got any news about the Cameroon (ad)venture ?

[Gate-A1]

Now news from Cameroon but a new story at Mauritius with Pan African Airways.

Miami a good destination? CityBird did it but with a stop in Orlando and with the help of Thomas Cook (NUI at that time) to fill the airplane. And what about the yield?

Now they have plan for fleet renewal and so need cash. This is not the time to start destination who will need one year before break-even. African destination are not easy to put in place but offer better revenue compared to the investment.

[C_J]

She looks soooooooo nice

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=1230789&size=L

[b720]

why not daily to joburg? seasonal to cape town? any idea how sabena was doing on the joburg route? maybe obtaining rights from kinshasa to jnb as flights from central africa to S. Africa are popular and rather expensive.

[teach]

any idea how sabena was doing on the joburg route?

Losing ridiculous amounts of money. In the end the line was losing an astonishing 25 million Euros per year.

[sn26567]

And the "new" Sobelair (after its take-over by Aldo Vastapane) was also losing a lot on the twice-weekly JNB route, which might have been one of the reasons for its bankruptcy.

[Stij]

I don't know if eanybody gave already a report about the interior of the OO SFW, but I flew it yesterday from AGP to BRU... with more then 5 hours delay, but that's a different story (I'll try to get my money back tough).

I guess you can tell the history of a plane by its interior: on the screen the LTU logo sometimes did show up. All the teksts on the planewe were in German or in English exept if stickers were glued on top in Spanish and English.

If you want to know the cabin layout of the plane, go to LTU's website. I don't think a lot has changed.

The seat pitch is normal charter seat pitch: survivable, but not comfortable. People who payed B flex were seated in the First Comfort zone of the plane (Business Class style): lucky b*st*rds!

I general the plane looks clean although a lot of plastics on the seats was broken and a few plastics panels were not wel fixed. The most annoying thging about the plane however is that there are no overhead bins in the middle of the plane only on the sides. I wonder how they fly it to Africa.

That's about all there 's to say about the plane I'm afraid!

Cheers,

Stij

[DannyVDB]

Was it not the intention that after the summer period - during which the plane is used for ad hoc flights like yours - it will completely be refurbished just like the other three?

Danny

[ihd-fc]

Indeed. They keep the Air-Madrid style untill after summer,so they can transport more pax (339 Y-Class iso 254 on other A330) and for Malaga/Athens and Faro-pax with a ticket of not more then 100€ the interior is not that important as it is with the african flights. After summer they will renew everything. Business-class pax who fly on the OO-SFW on African flights get a compensation for this (because the C-Class is not that good as on the other A330-s).

Greetz

[Stij]

Indeed. They keep the Air-Madrid style untill after summer,so they can transport more pax (339 Y-Class iso 254 on other A330) and for Malaga/Athens and Faro-pax with a ticket of not more then 100€ the interior is not that important as it is with the african flights. After summer they will renew everything. Business-class pax who fly on the OO-SFW on African flights get a compensation for this (because the C-Class is not that good as on the other A330-s).

Greetz

Dear ihd-fc,

unfortunatly that 100€ is only valid for people who can plan their holidays months in advance, unfortunatly not for me, so I paid way more then 100€. However, I wasn't complaining about the plane. I just wanted to inform you about it.

Cheers,

Stij

[LX-LGX]

http://company.brusselsairlines.com/en/ ... :141-17253

Press release from 9th August 2007:

"Brussels Airlines increases flight frequencies to 7 African destinations"

At the end of this year Brussels Airlines will increase its flight offer to 7 African destinations in total, thus adding 30 per cent more seats every week on the long-haul routes between Brussels and the African continent

Brussels Airlines celebrates the fifth anniversary of its African routes with a larger aircraft capacity and a significant frequency increase. Starting mid-December, passengers to seven destinations will benefit from even more travel flexibility and comfort (flat beds in business class,…) with our four Airbus A330-300s permanently dedicated to flights between the European capital and the African continent. Freight transport will also benefit from these additional flights.

East Africa and the Great Lakes region

More than ever, Brussels Airlines is becoming « The » airline for those travelling to or from the Great Lakes region. Flights will be added to and from Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.

From December 18, 2007, Kigali, capital of Rwanda, will be connected to Brussels 3 times per week instead of twice currently.

To meet the growing demand from passengers and the increasing volumes of freight, Entebbe airport in Uganda will receive 4 weekly flights instead of 3.

The route to Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, was inaugurated this spring and will soon see an increase in frequency with 2 flights every week, also starting in December. Thanks to direct Brussels Airlines flights to Bujumbura, travel time between Europe and Burundi has been reduced by 8 hours, to the delight of passengers.

West Africa

With flights to and from seven western African countries, Brussels Airlines is an important player in this region. The number of flights between Brussels and Monrovia, Liberia, will be increased to 4 weekly. Abidjan, Ivory Coast, will also be connected to Brussels more often with 4 weekly flights instead of the current two. The frequency for Conakry, Guinea, is doubled with 2 weekly rotations instead of one. Finally, Cameroon will also benefit from additional flights with two weekly connections to Yaounde instead of the current one, while Douala will continue with 3 weekly flights.

Central Africa

Brussels Airlines will further improve its existing flights to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, by offering non-stop flights starting this winter. More details will be provided at a later date.

Smooth connections

More then half of the passengers departing from Africa use Brussels Airport as a hub towards other destinations from the network of Brussels Airlines or of one of its partners. For example, Brussels Airlines offers to its passengers coming from Africa a special daily connecting flight to Paris or London Gatwick. Easy connections are also possible to dozens of other European cities (Geneva, Milan, Rome, Lyon, Marseille, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Madrid, Manchester, etc.)

Thanks to a partnership with American Airlines, the biggest airline in the world, smooth connections are also available to the United States. Brussels Airlines’ network will extend further as a brand new partnership with Jet Airways will allow Brussels Airlines to offer a daily connection between Africa and India.

[tolipanebas]

Press release from 9th August 2007: "Brussels Airlines increases flight frequencies to 7 African destinations"

Great news, it is just that I've already posted the exact new schedule in this very same topic on June 7th (just look up), so more than 2 months ago....

SN has confirmed a few days ago to its staff the 4th A330 will NOT be deployed to Montreal as was originally intended, but will rather enhance the Africa schedule...

Let's look into the new schedule in detail:

West Africa:
DKR 6 weekly flights (plus 1)
CRY 2 weekly
FNA 2 weelky
BJL 2 weekly
ROB 4 weekly (plus 1)
ABJ 4 weekly (plus 2)

Central Africa:
FIH 5 weekly (3 out of 5 will be non stop, compared to none today!)
DLA 3 weekly
NSI 2 weekly (plus 1)
LAD 1 weekly

East Africa:
NBO 5 weekly
EBB 4 weekly (plus 1)
KGL 3 weekly (plus 1)
BJM 2 weekly (plus 1)

Now all SN have to do to actually fly the above schedule is succeed in getting all their 4 A330s operable together!

Just found out that the A330 which is sitting grounded and heavily damaged in Cameroon is out till the end of next week and as the 'spare' A330 is 'unavailable' as well, SN will once more have to wet-lease a Tristar...