Brussels Airlines in 2025

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rwandan-flyer
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Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by rwandan-flyer »

lumumba wrote: 17 Nov 2025, 16:01
convair wrote: 17 Nov 2025, 15:07
sn26567 wrote: 13 Nov 2025, 21:46 OO-SFE was not deployed to Africa today. Even less to the US. The A330 was indeed carrying the Red Devils to Astana, Kazakhstan, a 7-hour trip.

Note that the return Saturday night will be to Liège Airport, since the next game of the Red Devils will be at Standard stadium.
They often say they have too few l/h aircraft; yet they can afford to have 1 of their A333s remain in Astana for 3 days with the Red Devils. Good money I suppose...
Money im not sure advertising most probably.
This is a king of agreement often for 2 or 3 years (renewable or not renewable) that you can see btw many Sport Federations and Airlines across the world. French Rugby Team (it's include federation staff, partner company) used to fly with Air France B777-300ER during the Six Nations tournament, for friendly match or during the World Cup, while the French Football Team used to fly with Gainjet (Greece).

Now Air France is the official carrier for the French Basket Ball Team
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Duke
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Joined: 08 Feb 2005, 00:00

Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by Duke »

rwandan-flyer wrote: 17 Nov 2025, 16:14
lumumba wrote: 17 Nov 2025, 16:01
convair wrote: 17 Nov 2025, 15:07

They often say they have too few l/h aircraft; yet they can afford to have 1 of their A333s remain in Astana for 3 days with the Red Devils. Good money I suppose...
Money im not sure advertising most probably.
This is a king of agreement often for 2 or 3 years (renewable or not renewable) that you can see btw many Sport Federations and Airlines across the world. French Rugby Team (it's include federation staff, partner company) used to fly with Air France B777-300ER during the Six Nations tournament, for friendly match or during the World Cup, while the French Football Team used to fly with Gainjet (Greece).

Now Air France is the official carrier for the French Basket Ball Team
Convair is right...
Ok, maybe publicity is an important reason to do so.
But I guess for Air France it's a lot easier to dedicate an aircraft to a sports event than for Brussels Airlines, as thier longhaul fleet is multiple times bigger than the fleet of Brussels Airlines..
I assume at least 2 or 3 flights had to be canceled to keep the aircraft in Astana...
The costs to rebook those passengers and the negative impact on the client satisfaction must be calculated too...
If the Red Devils would still be the top team they were a few years ago, I could understand it more or less.. but the way they are (under)perfoming now makes me also wonder why they still receive such a royal treatment...

rwandan-flyer
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by rwandan-flyer »

It's common trend into aviation. You have even commercial airlines (small or bigs) which have a contract with United Nations to carry delegations and army. You can even read what all the requirements for an airline to get contract with UN, WFP or UNHCR

Air Operator Registration - Pre-requisites for doing business with the UN
https://www.un.org/Depts/ptd/aviation

Japan Airlines, Air India, Korean Air, Pakistan Airlines, Buthan Air, Ethiopian Airlines (you can see ET 787s in Nepal, In Guatemala,...), Royal Air Maroc to name a few have contract with UN Agencies (including army but also sometimes UN civilian Staff).

All they operate sometimes several flights a month to and from Africa depending the number of contingents for the rotational exercise. Japan Airlines sends their B787 to Djibouti and South Sudan, Bhutan Air sends their A320s to Bangui with a fuel stop at Jeddah, same thing with PIA B777s to DR Congo which make a stop in Saudi Arabia.

They have also sometimes deal with the fact that they will send an aircraft sometimes several times per month at 7000, 8000 km or sometimes more from its home base. Big or small it's a huge logistic (you land in Africa, Juba Airport it's not Tokyo Haneda Airport)

Dealing with agencies or state administration (army, sport federation) like for Brussels Airlines, it's also a good sources of revenues because these organizations are good payers and won't hesitate to give lots of cash 8-). It will probably compensate the possible of cancellations (cancellations happen probably long time before and not the day before) and re bookings of pax.

Brussels Airines renewed the partnership with Royal Belgian Football Association 2 months ago. So it's assumed by SN (we can be agree or not of course, i just say that it's common thing ;) )
Royal Belgian Football Association

26,794 followers
2mo Edited

Flying side by side for 3 more years. ✈️

The RBFA and Brussels Airlines extend their partnership.

Brussels Airlines extends its contract as official partner of the Royal Belgian Football Association.

This expanded partnership is a sign of confidence and shows a shared vision for the future of Belgian football.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/royal-be ... 18948-d4bo
Global Airline Industry Sports Sponsorship Market Size to Grow from USD 1.5 Billion in 2023 to USD 3.6 Billion by 2033, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.15% during the forecast period.

https://www.decisionsadvisors.com/press ... hip-market
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sankara
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Joined: 16 Oct 2025, 09:14

Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by sankara »

convair wrote: 17 Nov 2025, 15:07
sn26567 wrote: 13 Nov 2025, 21:46 OO-SFE was not deployed to Africa today. Even less to the US. The A330 was indeed carrying the Red Devils to Astana, Kazakhstan, a 7-hour trip.

Note that the return Saturday night will be to Liège Airport, since the next game of the Red Devils will be at Standard stadium.
They often say they have too few l/h aircraft; yet they can afford to have 1 of their A333s remain in Astana for 3 days with the Red Devils. Good money I suppose...
Whatever price they were offered – or asked for – was clearly a lot more than the aircraft would have earned on regular flights. The Belgian FA obviously has no problem writing big checks.

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sankara
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by sankara »

Yesterday, 4 Dec 2025 Brussels Airlines A330-300 OO-SFQ departed Brussels (BRU) at 13:35 bound for Conakry (CKY), but returned to BRU after just 1h30 in the air, landing at 15:05.
Later the same evening, sister ship OO-SFJ took over and departed BRU at 18:35.
OO-SFQ is scheduled to operate the flight to New York JFK on 6 December.

nordikcam
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by nordikcam »

I arrived from Buenos Aires today and am forced to note that SN's long-haul flights seem to be really stuck...two flights to Africa canceled...Dakar and Banjul Conakry. We are still far from the “famous” hub and that’s a shame! But the harsh reality of the passenger who pays and tries to fly...

oscartango
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by oscartango »

nordikcam wrote: 27 Dec 2025, 15:52 I arrived from Buenos Aires today and am forced to note that SN's long-haul flights seem to be really stuck...two flights to Africa canceled...Dakar and Banjul Conakry. We are still far from the “famous” hub and that’s a shame! But the harsh reality of the passenger who pays and tries to fly...
It seems today three Africa-flights are cancelled (Nairobi, Entebbe, Lomé).

Bel33
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by Bel33 »

SFP on route to Ouagadougou turned back after 20 minutes flight and is now waiting for landing in Brussels after dropping the kerosene over north of Belgium. Medical emergency or technical problem?

nordikcam
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by nordikcam »

oscartango wrote: 28 Dec 2025, 09:30
nordikcam wrote: 27 Dec 2025, 15:52 I arrived from Buenos Aires today and am forced to note that SN's long-haul flights seem to be really stuck...two flights to Africa canceled...Dakar and Banjul Conakry. We are still far from the “famous” hub and that’s a shame! But the harsh reality of the passenger who pays and tries to fly...
It seems today three Africa-flights are cancelled (Nairobi, Entebbe, Lomé).
No reliability! Russian lottery...c'est dommage ! And as a frequent passenger...be organized differently !

rwandan-flyer
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Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by rwandan-flyer »

nordikcam wrote: 28 Dec 2025, 13:12
oscartango wrote: 28 Dec 2025, 09:30
nordikcam wrote: 27 Dec 2025, 15:52 I arrived from Buenos Aires today and am forced to note that SN's long-haul flights seem to be really stuck...two flights to Africa canceled...Dakar and Banjul Conakry. We are still far from the “famous” hub and that’s a shame! But the harsh reality of the passenger who pays and tries to fly...
It seems today three Africa-flights are cancelled (Nairobi, Entebbe, Lomé).
No reliability! Russian lottery...c'est dommage ! And as a frequent passenger...be organized differently !

28 Dec 25


AF 856 Cayenne canceled

27 Dec 2025

AF 706 to Abidjan canceled
AF344 to Montreal canceled

17Dec25

AF814 to Nairobi canceled
AF12 to New York canceled. Downgraded from A350 to A330 since few days !!
AF136 to Chicago canceled

And i don"t even focus on Asia, Middle East, Central America and South America flights and i didn't see all US flights. I have selected few flights i seen canceled when i was in duty at the airport. I didn't even included flights canceled due to snow storm in USA (some flights to Atlanta and New York were canceled) or the flight canceled this week at Ndjamena due works on RWY. AF flight had already a big delay while NDJ Airport closed btw 8.00 p.m and 9.00 a.m.

If i m right, AF has a bigger fleet than Brussels Airlines
Last edited by rwandan-flyer on 28 Dec 2025, 15:06, edited 3 times in total.
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Bel33
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Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 18:36

Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by Bel33 »

SFP again on route to Ouagadougou with 5 hrs delayed. So it was probably medical emergency. Don't be so critical, please. 8 flights today to Africa and JFK cancelled for wheater's reasons.

nordikcam
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by nordikcam »

Bel33 wrote: 28 Dec 2025, 16:03 SFP again on route to Ouagadougou with 5 hrs delayed. So it was probably medical emergency. Don't be so critical, please. 8 flights today to Africa and JFK cancelled for wheater's reasons.
Yes...I stop criticizing, yet I know I can't. Internally, everything is going well! So everything is working! Beautiful evening.

convair
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by convair »

2 flights to DSS yesterday: SN201 by SFH, and SN1201 by SFE. Special occasion?

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lumumba
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by lumumba »

rwandan-flyer wrote: 28 Dec 2025, 14:48
nordikcam wrote: 28 Dec 2025, 13:12
oscartango wrote: 28 Dec 2025, 09:30
It seems today three Africa-flights are cancelled (Nairobi, Entebbe, Lomé).
No reliability! Russian lottery...c'est dommage ! And as a frequent passenger...be organized differently !

28 Dec 25


AF 856 Cayenne canceled

27 Dec 2025

AF 706 to Abidjan canceled
AF344 to Montreal canceled

17Dec25

AF814 to Nairobi canceled
AF12 to New York canceled. Downgraded from A350 to A330 since few days !!
AF136 to Chicago canceled

And i don"t even focus on Asia, Middle East, Central America and South America flights and i didn't see all US flights. I have selected few flights i seen canceled when i was in duty at the airport. I didn't even included flights canceled due to snow storm in USA (some flights to Atlanta and New York were canceled) or the flight canceled this week at Ndjamena due works on RWY. AF flight had already a big delay while NDJ Airport closed btw 8.00 p.m and 9.00 a.m.

If i m right, AF has a bigger fleet than Brussels Airlines
So the Air France long haul fleet is 11 times bigger than that of Brussels Airlines and they have less cancelations!
I don't see your point?
I also don't see the problem with the downgrading there are flying that's what's matter.
Hasta la victoria siempre.

Homo Aeroportus
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by Homo Aeroportus »

Seems that OO-SFQ is stuck in Kigali since Saturday evening.

They backtracked for take off from RWY10 as usual but returned to the apron.

SN465 at HRYR 27DEC25.png

@Rwandan-Flyer : any news on reason why?

Domino effect : SN277 to ACC was cancelled yesterday.

H.A.

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 1341
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by rwandan-flyer »

I don't have any infos about the A330 stucks at Kigali. The last time that a SN A330 stayed long time (early 2025) at Kigali, it had engine trouble and they send maintenance staff from Brussels to fix the issue.
lumumba wrote: 29 Dec 2025, 04:58 So the Air France long haul fleet is 11 times bigger than that of Brussels Airlines and they have less cancelations!
I don't see your point?
I also don't see the problem with the downgrading there are flying that's what's matter.
The subject is good, it's normal to talk about deficiencies in airlines . However based our arguments mainly on our perceptions, it's not enough to go deeper into the discussion. I see sometimes some people there which don't post a message for several says or weeks about cancellations and then suddenly they come back.

It looks like cherry picking or Confirmation bias: the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data that may contradict that position. There are periods where, SN doesn't cancel flights or the cancellation rate is low, however if the people post this, it will be against their narrative.

Because i can also say that yesterday one Air France flight to Atlanta and Dubai were canceled (which is true). Last week 1 flight to Madagascar and and 1 to Cancun were postponed the following day (which also true). Based on my opinion, it's too much for an airline such as Air France, however if i try to find some sources (even those that do not confirm my opinions), things are different.

In 2024, the average of cancellation in Europe was of 1,06% https://www.travala.com/blog/airline-ca ... -a-refund/

I guess over 3% it's too much.

If you see on this link, several big airlines have a rate of cancellation largely above the average. In Europe, Lufthansa 2,91% and British Airways 2,29 % !!!. While Air France was at 1,35% and Turkish Airlines was at 1,15%.

In Asia it's worst despite big fleets in China and in Indonesia. China Eastern has a fleet of 664 aircraft, but with a cancellation rate of 3,45% !!

In Middle East, Emirates has the lowest cancellation rate in the world with 0,48% with a fleet of 260 aircraft.

Some data for 2025 : the Air France cancellation rate is 1%. Swiss is at 1,29%, Finnair 1,58%, Aer Lingus 2,12%, TAP 0,05% https://myflyright.com/blog/airlines-wi ... s-in-2025/.

I can't find any infos about Brussels Airlines. If you find please feel free to share

Flights cancellations have various reasons : extreme weather events, infrastructure bottlenecks, labour shortages, fleet shortages, strikes and air traffic control pressures

And i have already said , airlines can cancel flight weeks before sometimes, but you won't able to see it on Airport website because the flight is deplaned.

We have to know the reason of cancellations each time. If a car impact a Brussels Airlines A330 at Monrovia and the plane spent 2 days at Monrovia, some flights will be canceled but there it's not the airline fault. The cancellations are the consequence of a incident during a stop outside the Brussels hub, not bad organization.

It's of course more visible for airline with a smaller fleet, but if a big airline doesn't have enough spare planes, flights will be canceled. It's the case with some big airlines. You can see the high rate for British Airways, Chinese Airlines and Lufthansa.

However if the airline has planned to many flights during a busy period but they don't have enough staff or planes, or they have mad a bad plannification about aircraft maintenance, it's in deed the airline's fault.

About config chgt, you can imagine that some people have booked on specific class. Aircraft don't have the same config. A biz seat on an A350 can be a premium seat in A330. A first class seat in a B777-300ER can be a biz seat in a other B777-300ER config.

The problem can be easy fixed when it happens several weeks before, but it's more complicated when it happens the day of flight. I have already saw that with a downgrade from A350 to a A330. The A350 was out of order and only an A330 was in spare. Several pax and bags were not able to fly this day. Either they have transited via Amsterdam or they took the flight the following day. I guess among these people, some have said never again with AF, even if the airline has found a solution for them.
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Bel33
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Re: Brussels Airlines in 2025

Post by Bel33 »

SFQ on route to Brussels (Bel4KE)

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