SN Brussels banks on European commute
The development points to growing confidence that new links between the two cities will bring early benefits to the travel and hospitality sectors.
In a market characterized by a driving down of costs and fares in Europe, and increases in standards for long-haul, especially trans-Atlantic, business flights, SN Brussels has identified a new target in the marketplace.
"Our main business will be business customers," SN Brussels' Senior VP Rudy Maex said at the Belgian Embassy last week. "We expect major growth in traffic between Warsaw and Brussels as a simple logistical need of doing business and politics in an enlarged Europe."
SN Brussels will offer a degree of services and frequent flyer programs of the kind often associated with the generation of flight travel before the onslaught of the low-cost model, terrorism and SARS.
However, while SN Brussels may pride itself on catering for the businessman and the Eurocrat, the airline is clear that it is a radically new business compared to its predecessor, Sabena.
"We have a focus on accountability," says Maex, "...the Poland manager gets an email every day and knows how profitable the previous day's business was for the company."
According to Maex, this attention to costs while maintaining a high standard of services is a unique offer. Added to this, SN Brussels has only 1,850 employees with 37 routes, cut down from Sabena's 12,000 employees and 87 routes.
"We made a profit last year, our second year of operations," says Maex. "For a start-up airline, that is a major achievement."
Maex hopes that profits will continue to grow as EU political and business conferencing picks up in SN Brussels' New European destinations of Warsaw, Prague and Budapest.
The Brussels routes are hoped to provide a safe haven for business away from the prevailing low-cost storm, which this year has already seen six new airlines being launched across Poland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and the UK. SN Brussels will also offer some low fares to deal with this type of demand, offering a small fraction of its seats on the Warsaw-Brussels route for zł.380.
Price-smashing competition is said to act as a barrier to the potential recovery of the sector this year. If the expected upturn in the industry is not as marked as some analysts predict, Maex says his airline will be ready to adapt. "Within two or three months we will know if the new service is a success. In a worst case scenario, we would be able to discontinue the service by September, for example," he says.
SN Brussels Airlines, in conjunction with Conrad Hotels, has generously provided the Polish press with travel services.
In a market characterized by a driving down of costs and fares in Europe, and increases in standards for long-haul, especially trans-Atlantic, business flights, SN Brussels has identified a new target in the marketplace.
"Our main business will be business customers," SN Brussels' Senior VP Rudy Maex said at the Belgian Embassy last week. "We expect major growth in traffic between Warsaw and Brussels as a simple logistical need of doing business and politics in an enlarged Europe."
SN Brussels will offer a degree of services and frequent flyer programs of the kind often associated with the generation of flight travel before the onslaught of the low-cost model, terrorism and SARS.
However, while SN Brussels may pride itself on catering for the businessman and the Eurocrat, the airline is clear that it is a radically new business compared to its predecessor, Sabena.
"We have a focus on accountability," says Maex, "...the Poland manager gets an email every day and knows how profitable the previous day's business was for the company."
According to Maex, this attention to costs while maintaining a high standard of services is a unique offer. Added to this, SN Brussels has only 1,850 employees with 37 routes, cut down from Sabena's 12,000 employees and 87 routes.
"We made a profit last year, our second year of operations," says Maex. "For a start-up airline, that is a major achievement."
Maex hopes that profits will continue to grow as EU political and business conferencing picks up in SN Brussels' New European destinations of Warsaw, Prague and Budapest.
The Brussels routes are hoped to provide a safe haven for business away from the prevailing low-cost storm, which this year has already seen six new airlines being launched across Poland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and the UK. SN Brussels will also offer some low fares to deal with this type of demand, offering a small fraction of its seats on the Warsaw-Brussels route for zł.380.
Price-smashing competition is said to act as a barrier to the potential recovery of the sector this year. If the expected upturn in the industry is not as marked as some analysts predict, Maex says his airline will be ready to adapt. "Within two or three months we will know if the new service is a success. In a worst case scenario, we would be able to discontinue the service by September, for example," he says.
SN Brussels Airlines, in conjunction with Conrad Hotels, has generously provided the Polish press with travel services.
