BRUSSELS AIRLINES ON COURSE TO REPLACE ALL REMAINING 9 BAE’S
(Posted 15th August 2016)
The delivery of the 20th Airbus A319 and phasing out of another BAe146 has confirmed that Brussels Airlines remains on course for their short and medium haul fleet renewal.
Presently there are nine more BAe146’s waiting to be phased out and replaced by A319’s and when the changeover is completed will Brussels Airlines then operate a fleet comprised exclusively by Airbus aircraft.
The added comfort of the larger A319’s will benefit travelers from SN’s African destinations like Entebbe and Kigali who connect in Brussels for flights into the Schengen zone and other Non-Schengen European countries like the UK.
As mentioned here recently will Brussels Airlines add Mumbai next year, using an Airbus A330 which should be delivered in time for the launch of the new route and which will according to information received be sourced through or from partner airline Lufthansa.
It is also understood that the airline has started to look into a future replacement of its Airbus A330 fleet and given the tendency to stick to one aircraft manufacturer are two models the most likely successors to the present A330-200 and A330-300 fleet. These will be the Airbus A330NEO or the Airbus A350XWB which has been making waves about its superior operating economics and inflight comfort since it entered commercial service in January 2015.
The wide body fleet replacement is expected to commence by late 2018 or early 2019 and a decision could come as early as the end of this year when the Brussels Airlines management and board will have reviewed manufacturers offers which have been invited.
