Brussels Airlines enters Asia with flights to India
By Tue Sep 13, 2016
Brussels Airlines is launching its first Asian flights with a five-times weekly service between its Brussels Airport hub and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Flights start March 6 and fill a gap left by the depature of Jet Airways from Brussels in March. They will be operated in cooperation with the Belgian airline's Star Alliance partner, Air India.
Day flights to Mumbai on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday depart Brussels at 10.50am local time and arrive in Mumbai late in the evening. Return flights leave Mumbai from the airport’s modern Terminal 2 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and arrive in Brussels early the next morning.
This flight schedule allows passenger to quickly connect to many European, North American and African destinations over Brussels airport.
Brussels Airlines will lease an additional Airbus A330-200 to support the new route. The widebody, which is expected to join the carrier’s fleet early 2017, will lift Brussels Airlines’ long-haul fleet to four A330-200s and six A330-300s.
The used aircraft will be retrofitted with the airline’s house style and cabins, which comprise a business class with fully flat beds, a premium economy and a standard economy.
The Belgian carrier —Lufthansa owns 45 percent of the company and has an option to acquire the remaining 55 percent — introduced premium economy on its wide-bodied aircraft only this summer.
Economy Privilege seats are at the front of the economy cabin, and come with an additional 8 cm legroom and double the recline compared with standard economy. Passengers receive a personal amenity kit, a fleece blanket, a hot towel after take-off and a glass of Laurent-Perrier champagne before the meal on flights departing Brussels.
The seats in business class extend to 1.97m long full-flat bed and have a 15.3-inch touch screen. In economy, passengers get 17.5-inch wide seats with a 33-inch seat pitch and an 8.9-inch touch screen.
Mumbai is Brussels Airlines’ first Asian destination.
“The demand for direct flights for passengers as well as for cargo is high,” said Brussels Airlines chief commercial officer Lars Redeligx. “With more than 50,000 passengers per year, Mumbai is the third most important intercontinental destination from Belgium.”
Jet Airways had operated a mini-hub at Brussels airport but closed down the operations in March to transfer them to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
The Indian carrier, which is a member of the Etihad Airways Partners, operated from Mumbai and Delhi to New York – Newark Liberty and Toronto Pearson International Airport via its mini-hub in Brussels.
Brussels Airlines also took over Jet Airways’ route to Toronto, and launched its own five-times weekly service in April.
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