Brussels Airlines is set to cancel two of its African destinations and other routes in its network in summer 2020 in a bid to improve on is profitability.
According to aviation24.be, the airline took the decision to jettison the routes during a recent works council meeting between Brussels Airlines management and the trade unions.
It announced that a number of destinations would be cancelled in order to improve the profitability: the network would be downsized from 78 to 56 European destinations, and from 20 to 18 long-haul.
During the works council meeting, it was also mentioned that the number of night stops should be reduced to a minimum. If applicable to all Lufthansa Group airlines, it would mean that Frankfurt and Munich (operated exclusively by Luftansa aircraft with a night stop in Brussels) and Zurich (operated exclusively by SWISS with also a night stop in Brussels) could be in part operated by Brussels Airlines aircraft.
Brussels Airlines further disclosed that it might acquire Airbus A321XLR aircraft in the long term (2024-2026)and operate new long-haul destinations: Miami, Newark and Boston (USA) have been mentioned in North America, a return to Nairobi (Kenya) and a new destination Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) in Africa.
It has now been disclosed which destinations will be removed from the network during this summer season:
Long-haul
Two African destinations are abandoned:
• Conakry (Guinea), and
• Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).
European network
The following destinations, mainly inherited from Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, will no longer be served:
• Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain),
• Billund (Denmark),
• Bristol (England, UK),
• Calvi and Figari (Corsica, France),
• Palermo and Catania (Sicily, Italy),
• Funchal (Madeira, Portugal),
• Hanover (Germany),
• Hurghada (Egypt),
• Chania, Kos, Rhodes, Santorini and Zakynthos (Greek islands),
• Krakow (Poland),
• Moscow Sheremetyevo and Saint Petersburg (Russia),
• Almeria, Seville and Valencia (Spain),
• Marrakesh (Morocco), and
• Zadar and Zagreb (Croatia)
Source: aviation24.be
