28th of February 2022 — This summer, Brussels Airlines has made the decision to expand its medium-haul fleet by two aircraft. The company sees an opportunity in the rising demand for summer and has witnessed growth earlier than anticipated in its transformation plan (and state financing arrangement). Brussels Airlines plans to add one Airbus 319 and one A320 to its fleet in order to meet the increased demand for leisure travel and maintain its status as Belgium's national airline. With that luxurious and lush services Brussels Airlines Flights have become cheaper instead of expensive.

In comparison to 2020, Brussels Airlines observed a significant increase in the demand for leisure travel on the European network: 75% more requests from tour operators and 140% more requests for charter business. It is anticipated that this tourist demand will continue to rise in the months leading up to the summer.

Brussels Airlines reduced their fleet of short- and medium-haul aircraft from 42 to 30 in 2020 as part of Reboot Plus. The airline made the decision to increase its capacity in order to meet the increased summer demand because certain tourist markets recovered more quickly than previously anticipated: In order to provide 80% of the 2019 summer production, the lease of one A319 will consequently be prolonged to October 2022 and the phase-in of one A320 will be advanced to June 2022.

"We can clearly see signs that this crisis is gradually drawing to a close. More swiftly than anticipated, the leisure sector of the market has rebounded, and we also observe a sluggish but steady rise in the demand for business travel. If the need for business travel remains the same, we should return to 2019 levels by 2024. This is unquestionably the ideal time to expand our market share and reaffirm our status as Belgium's domestic carrier.

In order to retain all pilots on board, the company's current part-time contract pilots will have the opportunity to transition back to a full-time working schedule two years earlier than anticipated thanks to this fleet increase. Recruitment efforts for the cabin crew are still going on. As promised in 2020, Brussels Airlines first got in touch with its former employees whose contracts weren't renewed that year because of the pandemic and the Reboot Plus initiative. Out of the 165 coworkers whose return was requested, 135 have agreed to work for Brussels Airlines once more.

With the addition of a ninth A330 aircraft in December, Brussels Airlines already declared expansion on its international route network, particularly in Africa. With the acquisition of this new aircraft, Brussels Airlines will be able to enhance frequency to a number of locations in Sub-Saharan Africa and restore flights to Conakry (Guinée) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), which were cancelled in 2020.