News: Easyjet launches its first Brussels flights
Flights > News > # 1205 (05/03/2007)
Easyjet is launching its first flights to Brussels this summer, prompting speculation that the no-frills giant could be looking to set up a base in the Belgian capital.
A new daily service between Brussels and Geneva takes off on June 29, with the midweek frequency set to double from September 10.
The new route is the result of the delivery of the eighth aircraft to Easyjet’s base at Geneva airport, which will now offer a choice of 31 destinations.
Easyjet’s entry in to the Belgium market increases the total number of countries served by the airline to 20.
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With Ryanair's deputy chief executive, Michael Cawley, once describing the tie-up between Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express as "like two drunks propping each other up and trying to stagger home through a muddy field", there always has to be plenty of room for more competition at Belgium's main airport, if the right deal is available. We think that the location of Brussels National airport, eight miles northeast of the city centre, would make it a natural base for Easyjet.
We doubt that they will be interested in offering flights between London and Brussels, as Eurostar is increasingly cornering this market, but links from regional Easyjet bases like Liverpool and Bristol might be viable. Meanwhile, we're sure that plenty of route development funds would be available for Easyjet to start cheap flights to Brussels from either Glasgow or Belfast (Edinburgh already has a direct link, courtesy of Brussels Airlines, so the subsidies would not be available).
However, Easyjet's Airbus A319's would be far too large to make any of these routes viable by targeting the government and business market alone. Instead, Easyjet would have to focus on encouraging inbound visitors to the UK, and on the promotion of Brussels as a leisure destination. We've always felt the Brussels itself is massively underrated, whereas nearby Bruges needs no introduction. With the ongoing development of high-speed European train links, Brussels National, which has a speedy rail link to Brussels Midi station, could also be useful gateway to numerous other cities in northern Europe.
Brussels National airport is relatively uncongested, and can offer much shorter taxiing times than airports like Amsterdam Schiphol or Paris Charles de Gaulle, with its main terminal complex located in between its two parallel runways. Ultimately though, it's success as a no frills hub, will be dependent on regulation and financial wranglings, rather than any inherent geographical advantage. Taking out our crystal ball, and looking even further into the future, we have to wonder how long the latest incarnation of Brussels Airlines (formerly known as Sabena) will survive, and whether Ryanair, having expressed an interest in operating more flights from central airports, will also be interested in operating from the "proper" airport in Brussels (they currently use Charleroi, which is 40 miles south of the city). Last year saw both Ryanair and Easyjet moving in on Madrid, as cheap terminal space became available, following the opening of the new terminal four. Who knows what will happen in Brussels?
