Brussels Airlines to Johannesburg??? Any chance to reopen?

[sn-remember]

While I tend to agree that SN should focus on the 1 day rotation flights, Tolipaneba, I disagree on this :

I think the error you're making is to SN as the generic Africa-specialist, whereas I see them more as the specialist of the difficult places to fly too in Africa... Any destination too obvious and it is invaded by all the other EU airlines too and they will always win the upper hand thanks to the much bigger volume they can rely on.

With a lot of help from LH (and the wider STAR community) SN could certainly try to hold grounds in the face of competition, but is this really what they should waste their unique know-how on??? Better let LX and LH do this easy job and move into more adventurous and often also more lucrative terrain.

SN (I hope) will develop a comprehensive network in Africa as a whole (preferably within the 1 day rotation limitation), not fearing the competition with established airlines on main cities.
I hope that they can successfully implement the brand to mean "the specialist of Africa" and not just the "shyer (or the backer) of competition" . With the latter (low) profile, the airline is sure to eventually fail as a viable entity (and sooner than later, see the state SN is in today a bird for the cat).
That's why I think that Sabena's past network in Africa should be restored and developed more. Yes to me SABENA is the model to follow as far as the african philosophy is concerned.
Also they will need to refine their product and offering to connect "seamlessly" and attractively with other carriers .
And -last but not least- they should try to position themselves more effectively as a main cargo operator to Africa.
And for that maybe after all considering the 747-Combi would be a good idea (to investigate, it was not my first feeling but I nearly changed my mind on that, it all depends on the operating costs of the jumbo)

So, meanwhile leave South Africa to others... ?
But there are no candidates to serve the route so maybe still a daily A330-200 could be considered (although more as a cherry on the cake .. but first u need the cake and provided the A332 can do it in 1 hop (JNB is at high altitude does anybody knows if the bird can do it with full load?)
After all it could be a "near 1 day rotation"
BTW 40% local pax /60% connecting pax, is very common , LX or KL have usually the same (or even less locals)proportion on trunk routes. The problem with sabena was that their product was not strong enough to upgrade the yealds. But with time and a better product (and a strong alliance) they could have made the route profitable sure ..

[sn-remember]

BTW- Sabena operated to JNB on a daily basis,and the loads were really really high (I know because I wanted to go there on non-revenu tickets yet didn't do so, because when I cheched the route it was never below 95% booked), yet the were reportedly loosing close to 1BN BEF (i.e. 25M euro) on the route per fiscal year.

Seems a lot of money ... ?

[regi]

First of all: we went through this already some time ago .
To MEA and Beacaire: I share your ideas. But we have to look at the spreadsheet, not to a powerpoint presentation. Meaning: we have to look at the numbers, not the nice picture born out of a dream.

Some time ago I launched the idea of flying BRU directly towards CPT Cape Town. Woeha !
There is very little competition on Cape Town directly. And when you see the ticket prices, they are much higher. In fact it is the price of a ticket to JNB + the price of a ( 2 hour ) connecting flight. Whereby everybody knows how dreadful it is to drag your luggage 500 meters from domestic to international at JNB. And do the zigzag walk at domestic.
So, yes, a direct flight to Cape town would be great.
But, now comes reality: Nationwide had such a flight: Cape Town-Gatwick. Great airline, very positive reviews, lower prices than BA, more space, etcetera etcetera. BA and Virgin still exist. Nationwide has gone.
Problem with Cape Town is that it is too dependent on a 3 month tourist season. Similar to Phuket.
And yes, what JNB concerns, competition is sometimes ridiculous. I saw tickets with Ethiopian Airlines for 495 euro all included. In 2008. At the top of the high fuel prices.
JNB sees much more business travel than Cape Town. But it also depends too much on the tourist season.

Although 1 positive remark: despite all the scepticism, we do have to realise that other airlines from other places seem to be happy to fly to JNB and even Cape Town. I talk about the (far east + Japanese ) asian carriers and others like Emirates, Qatar etcetera.
That is business and leasure travel. The shopping malls at JNB and Cape Town are full with Britts but they seem to be swallowed by asian tourists as well. Gold is the magic word.