Brussels Airlines joining Star Alliance in December 2009

[RoMax]

It seems SN officialy announced their United codeshare, as I can found an article on luchtvaartnieuws.nl about it and it seems the info commes from SN itself.

Sorry, Dutch only: http://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/news/?ID=34298

[sn26567]

it seems the info commes from SN itself.

Indeed, yesterday SN issued a press release in Dutch and French only. No English, which is why I did not post it here.

Brussels Airlines start samenwerking met United Airlines

Brussel 01 april 2010 -- Vanaf zes april kan Brussels Airlines dankzij een nieuwe
samenwerking met Star Alliance lid United Airlines dagelijkse vluchten aanbieden
naar Washington en Chicago. Vanuit beide luchthavens kan doorgereisd worden naar
tientallen andere bestemmingen in de Verenigde Staten. United kan dankzij de
samenwerking met Brussels Airlines ook talrijke nieuwe bestemmingen in Europa en
Afrika in haar netwerk opnemen.

Brussels Airlines passagiers kunnen vanaf zes april naar tientallen nieuwe bestemmingen in de
Verenigde Staten reizen dankzij een nieuw codeshare partnership met United Airlines. De
dagelijkse lijnvlucht naar Washington en de nieuwe dagelijkse service naar Chicago O’Hare, die
de voorbije maandag van start ging, worden vanaf zes april ook aangeboden door Brussels
Airlines.

De samenwerking tussen Brussels Airlines en United Airlines beperkt zich evenwel niet tot de
directe transatlantische routes. Mits een overstap in Chicago of Washington kunnen Brussels
Airlines klanten ook doorreizen naar ondermeer Boston, Denver, Dallas FW, Austin, Cleveland,
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland, Tampa, Houston en tientallen andere bestemmingen in de
Verenigde Staten. Ook al deze bestemmingen worden voortaan in codeshare en dus met SN
vluchtnummers aangeboden door Brussels Airlines.

Passagiers van United kunnen voortaan via Brussels Airport met Brussels Airlines vlot talrijke
bestemmingen in Europa en Afrika bereiken. De vluchtcode ‘UA’ van United zal vanaf zes april
geleidelijk aan, aan talrijke Brussels Airlines vluchten worden toegevoegd. In totaal breidt
United zo haar aanbod met 24 Europese en 12 Afrikaanse bestemmingen van Brussels Airlines
uit.

“We focussen sterk op de uitbreiding van ons wereldwijd vluchtaanbod”, zegt United’s SVP
Alliances, International & Regulatory Affairs Mark Schwab. “Dankzij dit partnership met
Brussels Airlines groeit ons netwerk met talrijke nieuwe Europese bestemmingen en vluchten
naar talrijke Afrikaanse groeimarkten.”

United Airlines is één van de stichtende leden van het globale samenwerkingsverband Star
Alliance waarvan Brussels Airlines in december vorig jaar lid werd. Passagiers van Brussels
Airlines die gebruik maken van deze nieuwe codeshare service kunnen Miles & More
getrouwheidsmijlen sparen en uitgeven. Vice versa kunnen de leden van United’s Mileage Plus
programma mijlen sparen en uitgeven telkens ze met Brussels Airlines vliegen.

“Dit is een belangrijke stap in de ontwikkeling van Brussels Airlines”, zegt EVP Strategy &
Business Development Erik Follet. “Met United beschikken we voortaan over een zeer sterke
Amerikaanse partner die als lid van de Star Alliance onze passagiers talrijke nieuwe voordelen
garandeert. De rechtstreekse lijnvlucht naar de Amerikaanse hoofdstad Washington zal zeker
geapprecieerd door onze klanten terwijl de nieuwe lijndienst naar Chicago, de grote thuishaven
van United, onze passagiers talrijke nieuwe connectiemogelijkheden oplevert. Ook voor onze
Afrika vluchten is dit partnership met United een belangrijke meerwaarde want we kunnen nu
reismogelijkheden naar zowat alle grote steden in Amerika aanbieden.”

Brussels Airlines lance un partenariat avec United Airlines

Bruxelles, jeudi 1er avril 2010 – Dès le 6 avril, Brussels Airlines offrira de nouvelles
connexions quotidiennes vers Washington et Chicago grâce à un partenariat avec
United Airlines, membre de Star Alliance. De nombreuses destinations américaines
seront également accessibles depuis ces deux villes américaines majeures. Grâce à
son accord avec Brussels Airlines, United disposera de son côté d’une multitude de
destinations européennes et africaines supplémentaires dans son large réseau
mondial.

Dès le 6 avril, les passagers de Brussels Airlines auront l’opportunité de voyager vers une
dizaine de destinations américaines grâce à un récent accord en partage de code avec United
Airlines. Les liaisons quotidiennes vers Washington et vers Chicago O’Hare (lancées lundi
dernier) seront en effet désormais également offertes par Brussels Airlines.

La collaboration entre les deux compagnies ne se limitera pas uniquement aux routes
transatlantiques. Via une escale à Chicago ou à Washington, les passagers de Brussels Airlines
pourront également rejoindre Boston, Denver, Dallas FW, Austin, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Los
Angeles, Portland, Tampa, Houston et encore bien d’autres destinations situées aux Etats-Unis.
Ces destinations seront en effet incluses dans l’accord en partage de code et seront donc
offertes sous le code « SN » de Brussels Airlines.

Les passagers de United pourront dorénavant voyager vers une multitude de destinations en
Europe et en Afrique via Brussels Airport. Dès la semaine prochaine, le code de vol « UA » de
United sera également présent sur de nombreux vols opérés par Brussels Airlines. Au total,
United complète son offre avec 24 destinations européennes et 12 destinations africaines
desservies par Brussels Airlines.

“Nous nous concentrons actuellement sur l’élargissement de notre offre de vol mondiale”,
explique Mark Schwab, SVP Alliances, International & Regulatory Affairs de United Airlines. “Ce
nouveau partenariat avec Brussels Airlines nous permet de développer notre réseau avec de
nombreuses destinations sur les importants marchés européens et africains.”
United Airlines est un des membres fondateurs de l’alliance globale Star Alliance, dont Brussels
Airlines est membre depuis décembre 2009. Les passagers de Brussels Airlines pourront
dépenser et épargner des miles « Miles & More » sur l’ensemble des vols concernés par ce
partenariat. Inversement, les membres du programme « Mileage Plus » de United
bénéficieront des même avantages sur les vols de Brussels Airlines.

“C’est une étape importante dans le développement de Brussels Airlines”, raconte Erik Follet,
EVP Strategy & Business Development. “Cette collaboration nous offre la possibilité de nous
associer à un partenaire américain très solide. En tant que membre de Star Alliance, cet accord
garantit également à nos passagers une multitude de nouveaux avantages. Les lignes directes
vers la capitale américaine, Washington, seront énormément appréciées par nos passagers.
Les liaisons vers Chicago, base opérationnelle de United, leur offriront également un large
panel de connexions vers l’ensemble du pays. Ce partenariat est enfin bénéfique pour nos
destinations africaines, désormais reliées à l’ensemble des grandes villes américaines.”

[BrightCedars]

Is it me or SN currently no longer has the New York area at all on offer direct from BRU?

When selecting NY as a destination for next week you get a box that tells you flights will be bookable from April. Hello! We are in April and not April's fool day any longer!

They invite to book using a partner website without listing the partners, the least they could have done is put up some LH codeshare or a clearer hint.

[MAM]

The change of carriers on a website with booking application is not just one "one button click" procedure. Flights have to be loaded in the system manually before they are even bookable.

[sn26567]

The change of carriers on a website with booking application is not just one "one button click" procedure. Flights have to be loaded in the system manually before they are even bookable.

And some airlines do it faster than others.

[sdbelgium]

Brussels Airlines - US Airways codeshare details on http://airlineroute.net/2010/04/07/snus-codeshare/

[tolipanebas]

So US isn't codesharing on any of the long haul routes of SN then?

Equally interesting to see how many one-way codeshares US (and UA) have announced, probably because those destinations are currently almost "offline" as SN doen't have an early morning flight to BRU from those places.

Whereas this is understandable for some holiday destinations like SVQ, FOA or AGP, it is something urgently needed for destinations like PRG or NCE, especially since they are also offline from SN's own long haul operations, which is a pitty (especially NCE, given SN's focus on French speeking African destinations)

[airbuske]

US Airways will put its code on 10 African destinations in the second phase.
These are sellable by the end of April for travel as of May 5th of July 5th.
These will be BJL, DKR, DLA, EBB, KGL, NBO,NSI,COO,OUA and ACC

More points in Europe and Africa are being evaluated.

[sunan]

"Since inception, Star Alliance flights had opened from Brussels, but from today onwards, we can begin construction of this airport as a major transportation hub," said Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance. Brussels airlines, the Star Alliance network can cover 175 countries 1,077 destinations, including four new destinations in Africa: Bujumbura, Conakry, Kigali, and Monrovia.

"SN Brussels Airlines in the establishment of [take over the Belgian airline (Sabena)] for eight years, we are very honored to be member of Star Alliance," Brussels Airlines Co-CEO Bernard Gustin said. He also pointed out that in the main hub of SkyTeam Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, Amsterdam airport and the "near" between London's Heathrow Airport Brussels airport, "This is an important opportunity."

Star members a total of about 190 flights a day from Brussels to fly 80 different destinations. Five Star Alliance airlines operate 19 long-range routes, 14 Alliance members operate routes within Europe. Star Alliance airlines flights Brussels airport, all flights now account for 55% or so.

Ethiopian Airlines to become members of the meeting will be held Thursday. It has the potential to become Star Alliance airlines in Africa, Egypt and South Africa Airways, following after the third member.

[RoMax]

I just found a recent interview with Bernard Gustin (co-CEO of SN). You can find some of the most important things in the interview below.

""In Europe we have a degree of recovery, but it is very slow. Our African destinations did relatively well in 2009 and continue to be strong in 2010. But we are seeing new competition in some of the markets.
...
Today we are optimistic that there is some pick-up but we expect the pace of improvement to be slow for some time to come.
...
Our strategy has changed, but not because of the economic crisis. The driving force was the deal with Lufthansa and joining Star Alliance.

Before, our outlook was solo and opportunistic. Having partners has allowed us to define a clear direction. Of course it brings a host of other advantages. When we look at re-fleeting options, for example, we’re able to “piggyback” on Lufthansa’s relationship with the manufacturers.

There is enormous commercial support. We are a part of a big contract to support mining operations in Africa. We would never have won this on our own, and it has made a notable difference to our African services. We are also benefiting from a stronger loyalty program through participation in Miles and More. And this is only the start of a long list of benefits that make us a stronger airline.
...
Lufthansa is a minority shareholder, albeit a big one. That particular story ends there. Then it is our operational partner through Star Alliance. It’s a very important partner for us because of its size and proximity. They give us critical mass, particularly in our outstations. Recently, they stopped flying Frankfurt to Bristol, UK. We offer a daily service to Bristol and so have picked up a lot of that traffic. It’s making Brussels into a hub. Previously only 12% of our traffic was transit, but that’s now changing.

But all alliance partners are important. Previously, we had three people working in the US. Through our Star Alliance connections, the present number is 253. We are now playing a vital role in connecting the US with Africa. Despite our size we are giving back to Star. We offer seven destinations in Africa it didn’t have before.
...
And look at what happens in Africa. There, state airlines can be very different animals. They are sometimes used simply as marketing tools, so are judged by the amount of traffic they generate rather than profit. Brussels Airlines can’t compete on those terms.
...
The first item on the agenda, from a European perspective, would have to be the Single European Sky. It is by far the easiest way to save some 16 million tonnes of CO2. All we need is the political will. It is not a technical problem.
...
We fly passengers from the US to Africa, via Europe. So if Europe suddenly becomes a problem or too expensive, then airlines and passengers will simply find another route. Aircraft can fly anywhere. We have a very volatile industry and environmental mismanagement could make it even more so.
...
Regarding Africa, there are still some countries on the European blacklist. We need to help them, and make sure their safety standards are of international quality. We’ve deliberately chosen to work with a local company in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We are sure this will allow the country to develop the processes that will bring them up to standard and help get them off the blacklist. We must all do something.
...
We talk about harmonization a lot as a way of saving costs. As an industry, that may be true. But we have to ask as a business whether it will benefit us. Will it help our customers or our business? There’s no sense in doing something if it doesn’t bring any advantage. We sometimes think things are important when they are not.

As an example, we were the first airline to stop business class in Europe. To be honest, we may have been wrong about the timing. Or, as we prefer to say, we were right too soon. But we thought about our business. We didn’t accept industry norms.

Today, we have again reintroduced a business class on our European network due to our strategy with Star Alliance.""

http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=5074

At least good to see that they understand that the decision to shut down business class in Europe was a bad decision.

[NCB]

Alot of words to say nothing we don't know.
It's great to know that LH has helped bringing in new corporate contracts.

SN needs to excel with a real business class, not an economy class with free meals and a shared empty seat next to you. SN's low loadfactors are a unique opportunity to achieve this.

VX has limited amounts of business class seats at very high fares. They are always sold out.

It's better to have 8 very popular flat "First" class seats that sell for 600 EUR one-way for BRU-LIN with 100% loadfactor than 20-24 seats that are very often not used as fleet-wide cabin load factors flirt with the 60% and even if so, at lower yields.
You attract more attention with a flashy product and corporate travel, businesses stop booking British Airways, Iberia, Alitalia, El Al, etc...
To the business man or woman who spent all the day walking around with papers, trying to negotiate solutions to issues, or the politicians and their staff for whom every day is tougher than the day before, a business class seat should be a place of rest and a place where they can hit "pause".

What it shouldn't be is a cramped seat that gives you the feeling of paying business fare to travel "economy premium".

[RoMax]

Alot of words to say nothing we don't know.
It's great to know that LH has helped bringing in new corporate contracts.

SN needs to excel with a real business class, not an economy class with free meals and a shared empty seat next to you. SN's low loadfactors are a unique opportunity to achieve this.

VX has limited amounts of business class seats at very high fares. They are always sold out.

It's better to have 8 very popular flat "First" class seats that sell for 600 EUR one-way for BRU-LIN with 100% loadfactor than 20-24 seats that are very often not used as fleet-wide cabin load factors flirt with the 60% and even if so, at lower yields.
You attract more attention with a flashy product and corporate travel, businesses stop booking British Airways, Iberia, Alitalia, El Al, etc...
To the business man or woman who spent all the day walking around with papers, trying to negotiate solutions to issues, or the politicians and their staff for whom every day is tougher than the day before, a business class seat should be a place of rest and a place where they can hit "pause".

What it shouldn't be is a cramped seat that gives you the feeling of paying business fare to travel "economy premium".

1: It's typical for SN to tell things we already know.

2: Here we go again. A real business class in Europe is really NOT A GOOD IDEA. Only a few airlines in Europe have real business class seats in their short/mid haul fleet.
Other airlines are working with seats where you can replace the arm rest to the middle so you get two widder seats and a small empty middle seat and of course more legroom (most of the time they can easily swith/replace the seats so they can adjust the amount of business and economy seats to the amount of pax).
And other airlines work like SN with just economy seats with a empty middle seat and mostly more leg room.
And last 2-3 years there are even more and more airlines replacing business by a premium economy class. Altough that's not the way I like it.

Real business class or even first class isn't they way the aviation in Europe works. Only a very small amount of routes and airlines can operate a real business class in Europe in a succesfull way.

[NCB]

The issue is that the times of fooling corporate travellers with empty economy seats between them is over. That's why we have seen Lufthansa drastically reducing their "business" economy capacity. No one is prepared to pay for it anymore, except for big corporate contracts who don't care anyway because the high chaps fly on Gulfstream.

Business travellers want to sleep even on a 2 hour flight to Milan, Rome or Madrid.
Business passengers want to sleep all their way to Tel Aviv.
Heck, even a small hop to Geneva, between boarding and deboarding takes almost 2 hours.

A corporate traveller doesn't care how much his company is paying for his seat. Say you are an exec of Toyota in Brussels and you are going to meet with other Toyota execs in Stockholm.
Your company books you on a full fare" business" class and you look forward to a nice, comfortable travel. Sometimes you end up looking forward to the travel more than the meeting itself.

You get on board and realise that you will be spending the next few hours in a cramped seat that makes you so claustrophobic that you are afraid to open your attache case to take some papers and prepare for the meeting. You can't stretch your legs because the guy in front of you recklined his seat.
You are horrified by the thought of having to fly back too.

On your next occasion, you ask to be booked on another airline that offers legroom and a throne.
If it is not available, your next meeting will be about cost-cutting through staff travel.
"We pay for business class and we get economy class seats. Heck, if that is what travel has become, let's buy that expensive video-conferencing stuff."

To business and corporate travellers, travel is a part of their workday.
That's why airlines that will make that travel more comfortable will be crowned with loyalty and very high yields.

It's not that "it doesn't work like this in Europe".
It must work like this in Europe from now on.

[134flyer]

Dear NCB, there has been a lenghty discussion about this subject some time ago, but apparently you still haven't give up on your unrealistic idea...

A corporate traveller doesn't care how much his company is paying for his seat.

A corporate traveller may not care, but Financial Control of his company might care... Many companies let their employees only fly Y on long-haul as well, even though there is a very nice & comfortable Business Cabin available...

"We pay for business class and we get economy class seats. Heck, if that is what travel has become, let's buy that expensive video-conferencing stuff."

Interesting way of 'reverse thinking' why corporate travel has been reduced and/or moved from Business to Economy...

That's why airlines that will make that travel more comfortable will be crowned with loyalty and very high yields.

In Europe it will never materialize. E.g. the (longer) LHR-DME route (pre-crisis!!): BD have a nice Mid-Haul Business class seating, but even though they compete with BA who have standard middle seat blocked Y seating in Business, BD's Business class was largely empty, while BA's was completely full almost each and every time on their old & tired 767's, even though BA was more expensive. According to your assumptions it should have been the other way round, now how come it wasn't? If BD would have had a 'normal' flexible cabin, they could have sold more Y seats, as the Y cabin was full on almost each and every flight. But now they had to fly with a nice, but largely empty inflexible Business Cabin. Once again, this was pre-crisis on a high yield mid-haul route, let alone it would work on something like a short haul route like e.g. BRU-LIN...

And this is just one of many reasons why it won't work on short intra Europe routes.

[Vinnie-Winnie]

The issue is that the times of fooling corporate travellers with empty economy seats between them is over. That's why we have seen Lufthansa drastically reducing their "business" economy capacity. No one is prepared to pay for it anymore, except for big corporate contracts who don't care anyway because the high chaps fly on Gulfstream.

Business travellers want to sleep even on a 2 hour flight to Milan, Rome or Madrid.
Business passengers want to sleep all their way to Tel Aviv.
Heck, even a small hop to Geneva, between boarding and deboarding takes almost 2 hours.

A corporate traveller doesn't care how much his company is paying for his seat. Say you are an exec of Toyota in Brussels and you are going to meet with other Toyota execs in Stockholm.
Your company books you on a full fare" business" class and you look forward to a nice, comfortable travel. Sometimes you end up looking forward to the travel more than the meeting itself.

You get on board and realise that you will be spending the next few hours in a cramped seat that makes you so claustrophobic that you are afraid to open your attache case to take some papers and prepare for the meeting. You can't stretch your legs because the guy in front of you recklined his seat.
You are horrified by the thought of having to fly back too.

On your next occasion, you ask to be booked on another airline that offers legroom and a throne.
If it is not available, your next meeting will be about cost-cutting through staff travel.
"We pay for business class and we get economy class seats. Heck, if that is what travel has become, let's buy that expensive video-conferencing stuff."

To business and corporate travellers, travel is a part of their workday.
That's why airlines that will make that travel more comfortable will be crowned with loyalty and very high yields.

It's not that "it doesn't work like this in Europe".
It must work like this in Europe from now on.

For who do you work to say such crap? honestly did you know that EU staff can only travel Y? Or that companies that send their employers for longer than a few days ask their employees to fly Y intercontinentally? that companies now routinely route people indirectly because you can save 2-3000 euros?

OH BTW companies expect their employees to work on a flight, not to sleep unless it is an overnight flight.

Now tell me do you have any real experience of a business environment since 2000? The world has changed but you haven't, nor have yur views...

[Air Key West]

Most airlines are reporting that business travel is picking up. So, some business travelers will probably be allowed to move up to C class again.
Indeed, a "First Class-like" business class in Europe is, in most cases, not going to work. I'm generally happy with the current configuration where the middle seat is blocked.
However, some airlines should definitiely do something fo improve catering and the seat pitch at the front of the plane (this is particularly true for b.air whose European regular business class is a disaster). On top of this, they dare to ask outrageous fares for business class in Europe, whereas their product is below average.
1,374 euros for a return business class ticket from BRU to MAD : who wants/can pay that amount of money for two two-hour-flights ?
On the contrary, LX which is a very successfull airline, has often very attractive business fare. The only downturn is you cannot fly nonstop, but ZRH is OK for transit. So, whenever I can afford to travel in business class, I travel with LX thorugh ZRH ; travel is a little longer, but you pay less and you get a better service than on b.air.
My conclusion would be : keep the present business class configuration as it is in Europe today on most flights, but improve your catering and seat pitch at least a litlle and offer more realistic fares. That's how you can attract pax who will still be high yield pax and fill your business class (and not fly it empty as it is the case on most b.air flights, also probably because business class was imposed on b.air's management against their will and they would so much like to prove that nobody wants/needs it and that they were right, but some airlines still have a substantial number of C pax, so.... all lies in the product and the price). (BTW, for the price of a b.air return business class fare to MAD, one can fly return C class to DXB with TK ; goes to show there is something wrong with these European business class fares).

[tolipanebas]

business class was imposed on b.air's management against their will and they would so much like to prove that nobody wants/needs it and that they were right.

That is so spot on!

I can confirm you our management can't stop highlighting how right they were in halting C class and how it was an absolute requirement of LH to reintroduce it again.

Also, note how they do everything possible NOT to market it with their European customers, and how they rather push those European pax to the B.flex classes in Europe as it is allegedly more value for (less) money!

To me it is clear SN's management had to swallow a very bitter pill by having been forced to re-introduce C class on European sectors and has only managed to cope with this defeat by comforting themselves it is just offered as an extention to a long haul business class ticket.

Reality is however, that despite all the opposition of SN, SN sees good C class loads on selected short haul routes where pax are definitely NOT connecting: GVA, LHR, MXP and TXL for instance can have double digit numbers of business class pax, but that is obviously NOT highlighted by our management who can never admit error.

[134flyer]

business class was imposed on b.air's management against their will and they would so much like to prove that nobody wants/needs it and that they were right.

That is so spot on!

I can confirm you our management can't stop highlighting how right they were in halting C class and how it was an absolute requirement of LH to reintroduce it again.

Indeed, like posted by MR_Boeing above;
Bernard Gustin:

As an example, we were the first airline to stop business class in Europe. To be honest, we may have been wrong about the timing. Or, AS WE PREFER TO SAY, WE WERE RIGHT TOO SOON.

[Air Key West]

B.Air management will never admit they were wrong, because admiting one's mistakes is a sign of intelligence.

[tolipanebas]

We were the first airline to stop business class in Europe. To be honest, we may have been wrong about the timing. Or, AS WE PREFER TO SAY, WE WERE RIGHT TOO SOON.

I'd prefer to put it this way, although it is less comfortable for our management:
The TACTIC may have been right indeed, but it was in conflict with the only STRATEGY the company could be given a future with.

Since the strategy of integrating SN in one of the mega-network carriers was already clear from the onset, the tactic of trying to differ its product from that of whatever future owner was just a waste of time really and should never have been put into practice.

Rather than mess around with the integration of an airline that brought nothing but an old fleet of uncompatible 737s, a holiday destination network and a customer base which isn't very interesting for any future owner of SN, SN should have accelerated its search for a partner airline and left VEX for what it was. LH would have been just as much interested in SN, 4 years ago as it was last year and our shareholders would probably have gotten a much better price for it even, given that any deal would have been concluded in a much better economic climate. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20, but then all this is only hindsight for some, whereas for others, it was nothing but an obvious conclusion back then too.