RE: SN Brussels Airlines …
SN Brussels airline considers 12 new routes
BRUSSELS, July 12 (Reuters) – New Belgian national airline SN Brussels Airlines is considering opening 12 new routes, including flights to Athens, Lisbon, Tel Aviv and Istanbul, the airline’s executive president said on Friday.
Rob Kuypers told the Belgian daily De Morgen the flights would either be operated by the airline itself or through commercial agreements with other airlines.
SN Brussels, which took the place of defunct national carrier Sabena last year, currently flies to 36 European destinations and opened routes to African destinations in late April.
The airline said on Thursday it had also signed a commercial agreement with British Airways (BAY), which would enable the Belgian airline’s customers to fly with British Airways to London. SN Brussels Airlines said its customers will be able to fly to London Heathrow and Gatwick under a route code-sharing agreement from October 27. SN Brussels does not currently fly to Gatwick.
Kuypers said the Belgian airline would be able to attract British passengers on its African flights.
He said it was too soon to speculate whether SN Brussels would also join the Oneworld airline alliance, of which British Airways is a member.
“Allow us to grow quietly and prove that we deserve our place on the market and within an alliance,” he said.
The two airlines have also entered into a slot exchange agreement for the exchange of seven slot pairs at London Heathrow.
SN also said earlier this month it had signed a code sharing agreement with U.S. airline Continental Airlines (CAL).
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BA consolidates at Heathrow
British Airways and SN Brussels has negotiated a codesharing agreement with SN Brussels, which if approved, could see BA acquire valuable new take off and landing slots at Heathrow.
Since the immediate aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks BA has been reducing capacity at Gatwick and looking to consolidate its position at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport.
According to the Financial Times, BA will take over seven of SN Brussels’ nine slots at Heathrow as a prelude to the Belgian airline pulling out of London altogether and selling seats on BA flights instead.
BA is also said to have acquired a number of other slots in recent months through a series of negotiations with the likes of Balkan Bulgarian Airlines and Lithuanian Airlines.
The deal will also see Virgin Express, which used two SN Brussels slots, pull out of the Heathrow/Brussels route.
The codesharing agreement will only be allowed to go through if the UK and European authorities can satisfy themselves that there is adequate competition between London and Brussels.
Whilst the deal will certainly reduce the number operators, BA has stressed that significant competition still exists with Eurostar services accounting for almost 50 per cent of London to Brussels traffic.
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