For how long can a small airline with no real business plan stay afloat? Well, for quite some time, it would appear, at least if you’re Air Belgium. The airline is once again looking for new investors to stay in business.
Continue reading: Air Belgium Still Hemorrhaging Money, Looking For New Investors
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If they can't make money in 2023 wet leasing aircraft to airlines like BA who retired too many aircraft during the pandemic and are desperate for more aircraft and staff amid massive demand, they never will.
If the airline owns the aircraft, the new investors might be getting a pretty good deal on some aircraft
Agreed. Wetleasing is the only viable business model I can think of.
Belgium is a market far too small for two longhaul carriers.
They are having success on the Brussels to Johannesburg and Cape Town routes clearly
As flights are full and ticket prices are increasing, I guess after 9 months of operation this route might help push the airline into profitability in 2024, still not so sure if it’s enough to achieve profitability in Q3 2023
They can and should blame the Ukraine, with the Russian Airspace not available, it put them into a great advantage. Northern China routes like PKX-LHR adds a whopping 3 hours in-air comparing between CZ and BA. The amount of fuel, crew, airplane utilization cost associated with these totally unnecessary operation hours puts the fatal blow.
They haven't tried launching flights to the U.S.. Maybe that should be their next strategy. Partner with a U.S. airline for connectivity and fly to JFK. I'd say AA or B6, given that they both don't fly to BRU. DL could work to, as they would get better market share in BRU (they currently have a daily flight out of JFK).
United flies multiple routes into BRU, mostly on 777-300ERs during the summer (with Brussels Airlines being a star alliance partner). I assume Air Belgium could make JFK work with connectivity beyond JFK.
As much as I love Belgium the reality is it can barely support one carrier, much less two. From SABENA to the current incarnation Brussels Airlines; it's been a decades long saga of bailouts from public or private sources. I wouldn't put a single Euro in this venture.
Belgium is one of my favorite countries to be in, so I'm sad to see this airline struggle so. Seems like there are people running it who lack a calculated plan for success. The concept does have merit; Brussels has been reduced to not much more than a budget airline appendage of LH - but with this African network that probably keeps them going. OTOH, there are niches in the African and trans-Atlantic markets that can be tapped that Brussels Airlines have passed up. And, Brussels itself is rather conveniently located within a 2 hour train ride from Amsterdam, Paris and parts of NW Germany. In concept, this could be a success IF it had the right leadership.
Yeah, but really how much of a market is there for travel to the PRC from Belgium? I can't imagine much and they had trouble attracting flies on those flights before Ukraine or the Wuhan flu ever started.
I never really understood what Air Belgium was supposed to be. A FSC, LCC, a charter airline, or a wet least operator? They remind me of the recent iterations of Eastern Airlines. Maybe Air Belgium should just focus on DoD charters.
The earlier model of Air Belgium was to rely on mass order from cheap Chinese tour groups visiting the EU that always prefer direct flights. Charleroi won't be a concern for these groups as well as they always have a bus.
Their plan to rely on Chinese tourism failed in 2018, years before Russian airspace was closed to EU airlines.
Ill slap bang give em a couple lazy fittys for a handy in the back, why you say no euro for them.
you nasti
I don't think they ever made up their mind either hence the financial troubles. There was never a need for a second long-haul airline in a country as small as Belgium.
Where in Africa is there opportunity that Brussels Airlines doesn't already fly? They have West Africa stitched up.
Isn't it now owned by LH Group? They know what they are doing.
SN has probably the largest West African network of any European airline. Though BRU isn't a huge hub, it can feed pax from Africa, through BRU to other LHR hubs and destinations. I've always thought that was SN's attraction for LH Group.
I flew them via a LOT wet lease from New York to Warsaw several years back. All was fine, service was good.
Might be better for them to focus on transatlantic or trans asian wet leasing and charter work. The A340 were just too big. The A330 is more focused. Schedule service is just too competitive.