Brussels Airlines (SN, Brussels National) will grow its widebody fleet to 13 aircraft by adding three more A330-300s in "the coming years", targeting primarily its African network.
"The demand for flights to and from Sub-Saharan Africa is developing at a fast pace and it is crucial for Lufthansa Group to grow its footprint in the region. Brussels Airlines is the perfect airline to do just that as its expertise and presence on the continent is unparalleled," Dieter Vranckx, chairman of parent SN Airholding, said.
The carrier confirmed to ch-aviation that the aircraft will be A330-300s transferred from other Lufthansa Group carriers. Currently, Lufthansa operates nine A330-300s, Discover Airlines a further ten, and Swiss fourteen more.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Brussels Airlines currently operates ten A330-300s which are deployed on flights to 18 destinations across Africa, as well as to New York JFK and, seasonally, Washington Dulles. Due to the -300's range restrictions, Brussels Airlines is unable to serve destinations in southern Africa directly; its southernmost point being Luanda 4 De Fevereiro in Angola.
Under the recent agreement between transatlantic joint venture partners Lufthansa Group, United Airlines, and Air Canada, Brussels Airlines has been tasked with growing Brussels as a hub for connecting North America with Africa, with the two North American carriers operating the bulk of the transatlantic services.
The airline also disclosed plans to invest EUR100 million euros (USD111 million) in cabin refurbishment.
Brussels Airlines will be a part of the newly announced strategic ACMI partnership between Lufthansa Group and airBaltic (BT, Riga) wherein the Belgian flag carrier will wet-lease at least four A220-300s from the Latvian airline in the Summer 2025 season. CEO Dorothea von Boxberg told Simple Flying that the wet-leased A220s will replace the airline's in-house A319-100s on some routes as Brussels Airlines moves towards a decision on the future of its smallest narrowbodies.
The airline currently operates fifteen A319s, sixteen A320-200s, and five A320-200Ns.
