SN Brussels Airlines

(Code IATA: SN ; Code ICAO: DAT ) is the Belgian Airline company which succeeded the Sabena after its bankruptcy. It is based with BRUSSELS AIRPORT in Zaventem. SN Air Holding took again Belgian airline company existing DAT (Delta Air Transport S.A) and changed its denomination into SN Brussels Airlines, which was officially baptized on February 15th, 2002.

History

Creation

November 6th, 2001, a clap of thunder resounds in the Belgian sky, the Sabena is in bankruptcy. This event poses many problems as well social as economic. Thousands of employment are likely to be lost and Belgium loses its national company.

Vis-a-vis this irrefutable fact the government decides to recreate Sabena (a), the Newsab project was born. As the Swiss ones which created SWISS starting from the regional company Crossair, the Belgians will create a new company on the basis of DAT. This company, subsidiary of Sabena, operated European flights then. However the Belgian state does not want to have any more interests in the new company, it must be completely private.

Two layings of the finance whose Etienne Davignon will take in hand this new company by federating around them a whole of Belgian financial actors. This unit named SN Air Holding will buy 92% of DAT.

Finally, the NewSab project will give rise to SN Brussels Airlines at the beginning of 2002. The company positions like a company full service with the ambition to connect Brussels to all the important cities in Europe and to certain towns of central Africa.

Africa

Africa was a key network for the Sabena and will be it also for SNBA. However the young company does not have into 2002 the means of setting up such a network. They are two business men, Victor Hasson and Georges Gutelman (ex-TEA-EBA-CityBird) who will create a company for this purpose. Birdy Airlines set up a fleet of 3 A330-301 (ex-Sabena) at the colors of SNBA. The flights towards Africa suspended during a few months take again at the beginning of 2002.

In 2004, SNBA will absorb Birdy Airlines and will take again to it quasi totality of its pilots in its rows.

Fusion SNBA Virgin

In 2005, SN Air Holding amalgamates with Virgin Express, the concurrent company on the place of Brussels. At the end of March 2006, the plane business of SNBA for the years to come is presented and it confirms that the names SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express will disappear with the profit from a new mark: Brussels Airlines . This new name was revealed Tuesday, November 7, 2006 at the same time as the economic model of the new company. This first European fusion between a traditional company and a low fare gives rise to a hybrid concept. On the European network - except Saint Petersbourg and Helsinski - the business class disappears with the profit from two classes éco:

the B-light with thesimple one starting from 49 € including all taxes.
B-flex more expensive which offers more comfort and especially of flexibilté with the possibility of changing its ticket for a flight earlier the very same day or of being made rembrourser.

In addition the network means-length mail of SNBA is preserved in the state. The Belgian Philippe Vander Putten (ex-CEO Proximus) is named CEO of the future company and takes his functions under the wing of Neil Burrows in September 2006. It only acts since January 1st, 2007.

Float

Composition of the fleet

14 Avro RJ85
12 Avro RJ 100
6 BAe 146-200
3 Airbus A319 -100
3 Airbus A330 -300

Planes and their uses

Avro RJ 85 - Avro RJ 100 - BAe 146-200 - Their European destinations are generally served by planes Avro RJ 85, Avro RJ 100 or BAe 146-200. SN Brussels Airlines has approximately 14 apparatuses Avro RJ 85, which count each one 82 seats. The company also has 12 apparatuses Avro RJ 100 and 6 BAe 146-200, which can respectively accommodate 97 and 84 passengers.

Airbus A319: certain destinations in Europe, in the Middle East and in North Africa are served by A319-100 Airbus. SN Brussels Airlines has 3 apparatuses Airbus A319-100, of a capacity of 132 seats each one. These three apparatuses in leasing were already in the fleet of the Sabena. They connect Brussels to Casablanca, Istanbul, Moscow Domodedovo and Tel-Aviv.

Airbus A330 -300: the African destinations are served by 3 apparatuses Airbus 330-300, which count each one 264 seats, of which 42 classifies Business of them. This type of plane can moreover transport approximately 30.000 tons of goods per annum. Since July 1st, 2006, all A330-300 have the new cabins with 30 seats transforming itself into beds in Affaire class like 254 new seats in economic class. The configuration will pass to 30 Business head offices and 254 seats in Eco.

Projects

During the year 2005 SNBA with thought of using Boeing 747 -400 combis for the African flights. That would have allowed while having the same capacity as passengers, to increase the capacity cargo liner. The cargo liner with a margin important bénéficière is an asset for SNBA.

However the associated costs on arrival of a new aircraft in the fleet were such as the project at abandoned summer.

In 2005, SNBA approached PrivatAir for a feasibility study of cost of a relation Brussels - New York JFK with A319 LR as Privatair operates some already for Lufthansa, KLM or SWISS. The project did not succeed.

In 2006, SNBA would study feasibility to transform Airbus A319 into A319LR and to carry out flights full business on America or certain African relations.

In 2006, SNBA studies feasibility to take again the company Cameroon Airlines to increase its African network. In margin she thinks of sending her fleet of BAe 146 on future turntables is in Douala or Kigali or Entebbe.

In 2006, SNBA is always in the search of new long-distance aircrafts which will enable him to extend its even North-American African network.

In spring 2007, SN Brussels Airlines will take delivery of one 4th A330-300 Airbus.

Destinations

Europe

Basle-Mulhouse, Berlin, Bilbao, Billund, Birmingham, Bologna, Bristol-board, Brussels, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Florence, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Helsinki, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Larnaca, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Marseilles, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Newcastle, Nice, Oslo, Paris, Oporto, Prague, Rome, Seville, Sofia, Split, Saint-Pétersbourg, Stockholm, Strasbourg Toulouse , Turin, Venice, Vilnius, Warsaw, Vienna, Zagreb, Zurich.

The close East

Tel Aviv

Africa

Abidjan, Banjul, Casablanca, Conakry, Dakar, Algiers Douala, Entebbe, Freetown, Kigali, Kinshasa (Ndjili), Luanda, Monrovia, Nairobi, Yaounde, Oran

Other relations

The company flies currently only to Europe, with the Close East and to Africa. However, it developed many codeshares in order to offer a more important cover mainly for its customer regular and his connections with the African, American and Asian network.

Among these most important codes shares:

American Airlines, towards the United States on the lines Brussels-Chicago O' Hare and New York JFK in Boeing 767-300ER.
Etihad Airways towards Abou Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and Toronto in A330-200 Airbus. Etihad for removing the axis Brussels-Toronto starting from June 2nd, 2007 for the launching of a direct connection AUH-YYZ.
Hainan Airlines towards Beijing in Boeing 767-300ER.

Other codes shares are envisaged, in particular with Jet Airways, to make it possible the company to have a network in Asia, its weak point.

Jet Airways will connect Bombay to New York with stopover in Brussels in code share with SN Brussels Airlines, connection which should begin in April 2007.

Besides that, SN Brussels Airlines has other agreements of code share with British Airways (London LHR, Manchester), Cyprus Airways (Larnaka), Alitalia (Rome FCO, Milan MXP), Malmo Aviation (Stockholm), Swiss International Air Lines Geneva, Basle, Zurich), Iberia (Madrid, Barcelona) until March 25th, 2007, El Al Israel Airlines (Tel Aviv), Royal Air Maroc (Casablanca), Finnair (Helsinki), SCUMS Czech Airlines (Prague), Ukraine International Airlines (Kiev), Air Baltic (Riga), FlyLAL (Vilnius), Croatia Airlines (Zagreb).

All lately, after a close co-operation with the company Virgin Express train, SN Air Holding repurchased Virgin Express and fusion gave rise to Brussels airlines which will fly as of on March 25th, 2007. More infos

External bonds

Official site (www.brusselsairlines.com)
local Version for France
Corporate website Brussels Airlines
SN Brussels Airlines Airbus Fleet Detail
SN Brussels Airlines Passenger Opinions
Photographs off SN Brussels

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