Brussels Airlines' fleet renewal

[oldblueeyes]

The original PR news indicates that the deliveries were scheduled rather in the 2nd half of 2027 and likely going towards 2028 as well.

"In addition, the Board of Directors has approved the phase-in of five additional A320neo aircraft, with deliveries expected from 2027 onwards. This investment will bring the total number of A320neo aircraft in the Brussels Airlines fleet to 13."

[sn26567]

In the event yesterday to celebrate the coming of the 8th A320neo they stated that the next 5 A320neo would come starting in 18 months.

This would mean they do not come next year early, for the summer season, but rather at the end of the year, beginning of 2028.

Or did I miss something?

Cheers,
Danny

Production issue?

I was at the event, and I spoke with a guy from Airbus: the problems with suppliers due to the Covid crisis are not yet over. There are 340,000 different parts in the Airbus A320neo, coming from all over the world. Some of these suppliers still haven't fully recovered from Covid.

[Atlantis]

If the data/info is correct, the next A330's will arrive in November 2026 and the last one in December 2026

[DannyVDB]

Hi all,

I guess when they come they will start to 1) have more planes getting their maintenance (C/D-checks?); 2) repaint those that still require this (5 in total including the two new ones); 3) start putting new interiors.

All of this will take a lot of time so I assume one or more planes will be on the ground in winter/spring time ...? I have no clue how long the installation of the new interiors will take (per plane): guess one month or so?

Cheers,
D

[Atlantis]

Hi all,

I guess when they come they will start to 1) have more planes getting their maintenance (C/D-checks?); 2) repaint those that still require this (5 in total including the two new ones); 3) start putting new interiors.

All of this will take a lot of time so I assume one or more planes will be on the ground in winter/spring time ...? I have no clue how long the installation of the new interiors will take (per plane): guess one month or so?

Cheers,
D

There is a lot what we don't know. What exactly will be done? Full retrofit, also all cables, new light, new in-flight entertainment, etc? If also this will be in the planning, then take 5 weeks if everything will be delivered on time. This means that 3 to 4 planes, optimistic, will have the new cabin. On the other side, the others will also need maintenance. All respect for those who are responsible for the planning.

[longwings]

All of this will take a lot of time so I assume one or more planes will be on the ground in winter/spring time ...? I have no clue how long the installation of the new interiors will take (per plane): guess one month or so?

There is a lot what we don't know. What exactly will be done?

For comparison, Gulf Air ripped off the old business class in their A330s and replaced it with a new one in 30-40 days per aircraft, including replacing monuments. The later aircraft were completed faster than the earlier ones as the crew became more and more familiar with the processes.
Air Canada took up to two months per aircraft to refurbish their A330s but they were performing a heavy check at the same time.

[rwandan-flyer]

Unfortunately It was before the covid about Gulf Air.

About Air Canada, they started in March 2020. Some aircraft had already their seats removed, because they were used as Freighter to carry PPE (you can probably save time). And demand was probably not so high than in 2026, because many aircraft were stored. Some former Singapour Airlines A330s joined AC in Feb20 like C-GKUG (few days before the world lockdown), i don't know if some of them have made flights. They were probaly already stored.

https://www.cirium.com/thoughtcloud/a33 ... ivery-gap/

https://thepointsguy.com/news/air-canad ... s-service/

The staff shortage for the maintenance is worsen than before the covid. Many people were fired during the covid, then you have to add those that will go to the retirement. You don't have enough people to repalce them.

The current shortfall in the world is estimated to 22 000 technicians for 2026. It could reach 60 000 in 2029 !! (https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/tra ... echnicians).

You have also add that there is a lack spare aircrafts parts. You can see that some airlines are struggling like Air France. They have to put aircraft into the maintenance, but some checks are longer than expected. Thus during some periods, AF doens't have enough aircraft to fly to its all destinations. AF HOP is currently leasing Embrear from Amelia (France), while Air France Mainline is currently leasing Air Baltic A220.

Airbus, Boeing, Embraer and others are currently struggling to deliver aircraft on time. So it can be worse to deliver 2nd hand aircraft or make a huge retrofit.

Global shortage of maintenance capacity hurting airlines, study warns https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202606/ ... 61f23.html

[oscartango]

Sadly there will be no expansion of the SN A330-fleet in 2027. Also no Air Baltic wetlease next summer.

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/luft ... -for-2027/
https://press.brusselsairlines.com/brus ... hs-of-2026

[DannyVDB]

Indeed, the financial results worsened, mainly due to the higher fuel prices (+64 m€ expenses) ...

Question, is this a delayed delivery, or rather cancellation? In other words: what will happen with the 2 A330 - will LH keep them, will they go to Discover, will they be scraped ...?.

However, the new cabins will go through ...

Curious what will be the financial result at the end of the year ... Also curious what the results are of LH, LX, OS, ...

Cheers,
D

[oldblueeyes]

If we compare this to Aer Lingus, a brand excluding the Regional AOC has somehow a similar size to Brussels, we can see quite a mirring example.
Lingus is reducing capacity of 2 A333 and 4 A320, Brussels is not growing 2 A333 and reducing 4 wetleased A220.

Also curious to see if this is a short term decision that may be reviewed in few months or a longer one, that would likely mean long haul growth only with a new aircraft family.

[Tetris]

The whole point of business is making money. With that in mind, it is only logical given the decline of 50% in EBIT (-70mio vs -48 mio previous year) that the planned fleet expansion is halted. Or at least, that is yet again how it is presented.
If one looks closely at the figures:
- increased cost of 64 mio in fuel expenses compared to previous year. In other words: with equal fuel price, the result would have improved from -48mio to -6mio, an excellent result.
-This trend is also visible in the strongly increased productivity: despite having 5% less staff than previous year, flights (+6%) and RASK (+7%) increased
- The impact at for example Austrian is even worse (-94mio compared to -44mio last year, a difference of -50mio eur while not nearly having double the size)

With that in mind, these decisions are yet again an example of typical Lufthansa management, halting all possible evolution:
-Air Baltic wet lease to be ended, decline of 4 aircraft. This can still be argued as understandable. Air Baltic is on the brink of collapse without further capital injection and the short haul network is to be optimized group wide. However, this will lead to a big loss in capacity (and revenue) in the very profitable Q3 (+/- 0.5mio pax). If it is linked to the situation at Air Baltic, the question remains if the same decision is taken at LH, LX and OS. The answer should speak for itself.
- The decision to not expand the A330 fleet is the one that boggles the mind. Of the original expansion plan announced in 2024, not much is left. After the delay in 2026, where nothing happened, the expansion for next year was already confirmed to the airport and widely announced (end of june). The fleet at LH is down to just 3 aircraft, the aircraft are transferred as fast as they can to Discover (+4 in 8 months).It is clear that SN needs to keep growing (profitably) to gain scale advantages and increase reliability, but yet again 2 (or even 1) 18 year old 330 aircraft are too much too ask. It won't be hard to guess that LHG won't operate 2 330's themselves, these will almost surely go to Discover, temporarily or indefinitely (not even speaking about the 13 (!!!) A350 they receive over the next 3 year). Hard to understand why the transfer of two old aircraft to a sub brand is too much too ask.
- Cherry on the cake: the cabin renewal of the few LH aircraft that actually made it to SN. This remains on track for 'unveiling in 2027'. The original track was to have them flying in 2027. The unveiling at Discover and Edelweiss (which will have the same cabin) was in january 2026. It won't be hard to guess where SN will be in the retrofit priority. Again perfectly logical as the network airline compared to the two other holiday airlines. Meanwhile, the state of those cabins is a frustration and disgrace of everyone having to fly them, crew and pax.

Very sad, another lost year.

[oldblueeyes]

Well, let's see things from another angle.

Where does Brussels want to make money? What is the clear business model?

A classic networker would earn the yield on long haul and loose some money on the feeders. Is this an adequate assumption for Brussels business which is focused on Africa, a low yield, low frequency market?
Let's look on short haul - Belgium is one of the thoughest LCC markets - is Brussels positioned well to compete with Rynair and Wizz, if the feeder routes need to earn money on their own?

And if someone complains about Discover, let's look on the 2025 EBIT numbers : Brussels 28 Mio at 9 Mio pax, Discover 148 Mio at 4 Mio Pax. Edelweiss had 3,3 Mio Pax and 58 MIo CHF EBIT.

[nordikcam]

As a passenger point of view, this airline (SN) is nothing more than a plaything in LH's hands... There is no real long-haul network. Fortunately, other airlines serve Brussels, and CDG and AMS are within easy reach.

[Miqvell]

The only capacity increase we could have is the fact that Lufthansa is expected to take over Frankfurt and Munich next summer. SN operated a total of 85 weekly this year. There is also perhaps the scheduled extra NEO.

[Conti764]

Dumb move (again) from LH management.

SN keeps flying around with old, unreliable junk. And on top of that, they can even forget to get other old junk as back up for their own...

They keep putting the breaks on SN. Give it a year or so and the infamous African project of LHG, UA and AC will be buried as well.

The longhaul fleet replacement would happen around 2030. SN will not even make it to 2030. German bean counters will drop the axe.

[Atlantis]

The whe group is presenting the H1 figures today. Also Lufthansa itself is deep in red.

In general, some stupid wars made that a lot of businesses are suffering. Not only aviation.
Secondly, the not make sense national unions strikes are not helping neither. They make the situation of SN slowly worser and worser.

Regarding the Air Baltic fleet, I can understand. If the next A320Neo's will come next year, this extra capacity of Air Baltic is not needed.

But about LH is a big surprise. No expansion next year is a shock. The maintenance is now already much longer, the new interiors will take also a month. This without backup will be a disaster.
It has also consequences for the growth of UA and AC. The agreement was that if SN is growing LH, they also will grow by adding extra capacity and opening new routes. Even the new, possible AI, could be jeopardized. They only want to come when there is decent capacity to The States.

And to close it, also the Asian partners will not be happy with it. If flights are canceled, also their transfer pax are involved.

Dark times.

[Tetris]

Well, let's see things from another angle.

Where does Brussels want to make money? What is the clear business model?

A classic networker would earn the yield on long haul and loose some money on the feeders. Is this an adequate assumption for Brussels business which is focused on Africa, a low yield, low frequency market?
Let's look on short haul - Belgium is one of the thoughest LCC markets - is Brussels positioned well to compete with Rynair and Wizz, if the feeder routes need to earn money on their own?

And if someone complains about Discover, let's look on the 2025 EBIT numbers : Brussels 28 Mio at 9 Mio pax, Discover 148 Mio at 4 Mio Pax. Edelweiss had 3,3 Mio Pax and 58 MIo CHF EBIT.

The business model and strategy has remained the same ever since the Eurowings integration has been abandoned. With mixed success, returning to profitability but significantly below the 8-10% target. The past years, communication was that the Short Haul network has been performing rather well. Questioning this after one quarter of increased fuel prices, does not testify to a long term vision. Certainly if the results besides fuel actually indicate a good (or at least improved) performance. I'm not saying fuel impact should be neglected in growth and business plans, it is key to the bottom line, but this reaction seems out of proportion. SN will never be on par regarding profitability or size with Swiss or others, but in its own niche it should be able to handle its own and grow sustainable.

Besides that, we are not' speaking about a multi billion investment of shiny new aircraft, but previous gen a/c entering the last third of their operational life. Everyone would love that fleet of A350/B787 for exotic long haul destinations, but realistically SN is the perfect candidate for these aircraft, much more than the other 330 operators Discover or Swiss, to fly these end of life, as they do not need the range or performance as both other airlines. However, if you announce a growth plan, but then change it each year at the last minute (happened in 2026, now again), no evolution is to be expected regarding the performance. Renovating an 8 year old lounge, but not extending the network/frequencies/reliability and refurbishing the cabins are neglected. Strange priorities....

Sidenote: where did you obtain the results of Edelweiss and Discover? I thought those were integrated in the performance of Swiss and Lufthansa, I have never been able to find them in the financial reports of the group. Critical note on those profit/pax figures: those airlines can profit from the feeder flights of the mother company, without having to bear the downside of a big feeder network. Together with the much cheaper labour contracts an proportionally higher long haul schedule, this ofcourse helps boost profit/pax.

[oldblueeyes]

If you use search machines, you can get the operational numbers of Edelweiss and Discover and the sources.

Indeed, it is not comparable if you count that they don't have the risk of the feeding networks. But this leads to the discussion of fleet allocation and the remark on why eg Discover is getting new 350.

If you see things from a helicopter view, you allocate ressources there where the return looks most favorable. Compare this with the recent statements of AFKLM, where they stipulate that growth comes from premium leisure, and you get a sense that upgrading Edelweiss and Discover to 350 is a logical move, backed by market trends and company performance.

If we are all very honest, currently SN is classically stuck in the middle. No real competitive short haul position against the LCCs in Belgium, no attractive niche (which may become even more challenging eg if TAP would join the group), little chance to move into side markets - eg long haul leisure destinations from Belgium seem to be a tough market and in the current context TATL is reduced by everyone.

Maybe increasing speed to an all 320 size short haul fleet and delivering there grwoth and profits may be a solution for better bottom line figures, even if it's not so glamurous.

[oldblueeyes]

As a passenger point of view, this airline (SN) is nothing more than a plaything in LH's hands... There is no real long-haul network. Fortunately, other airlines serve Brussels, and CDG and AMS are within easy reach.

BRU is in the middle of LHR, AMS, FRA, CDG. The far more logical question is, why do you need long haul operations for other reasons than prestige?

[Airbus330lover]

As a passenger point of view, this airline (SN) is nothing more than a plaything in LH's hands... There is no real long-haul network. Fortunately, other airlines serve Brussels, and CDG and AMS are within easy reach.

BRU is in the middle of LHR, AMS, FRA, CDG. The far more logical question is, why do you need long haul operations for other reasons than prestige?

Good question