Dog-fight in the skies

As Belgium’s leading carrier prepares for a cost-cutting Christmas, we trace how this small airline fought off competition to become a serious player in the aviation business

The airline industry is one of the cruellest and most competitive businesses in the world. For a traditional carrier to survive in the fragmented and aggressive European theatre, it has to become an adaptable fighting machine that can grapple with the continual onslaught of rival companies and barrage of economic downturns and unexpected crises such as the SARS virus and Icelandic volcanic ash.

These are just some of the challenges for Brussels Airlines, the company that arose out of the demise of the country’s flag-carrier Sabena 10 years ago, following the largest bankruptcy in Belgian history. In order to survive, the new airline has had to pick its battles with aggressive low-cost companies while honing its flight operations and exercising extreme care in its choice of destinations. Now under the protective wing of one of Europe’s leading aviation alliances, the Lufthansa/Star Alliance network, it is proving that branding is a key to success. By selling a strong, simple message, it is slowly capturing the public’s imagination as Belgium’s leading carrier.

The Sabena anniversary has provoked national soul-searching, veering from nostalgic reminiscences to candid diagnosis of its downfall. It has also raised many questions, according to Brussels Airlines vice-president of communications Geert Sciot, but he insists that the company is “firmly looking forward” with long-haul expansion in the pipeline and a symbolic re-opening of a transatlantic route to coincide with the 10th anniversary of SN Airholding (Brussels Airlines’ parent company) next June. The new route to a US east coast destination, once covered by Sabena, is particularly poignant for ex-Sabena employees who make up approximately half of Brussels Airlines’ 3,300 staff.

The history of the current company is itself not without turbulence. When Sabena was grounded on November 7, 2001, the then Verhofstadt government feared that European and international organisations would pull out of the country. Captains of industry Etienne Davignon and Maurice Lippens were called upon to save Belgium’s aeronautical sector and re-connect Brussels with other European capitals and regions. Providing employment for Sabena staff was also a priority to avert a social catastrophe. The pair brought together some 40 industrialists, major companies and the Belgian regions to create SN Airholding with the clear aim of creating a profitable company, something that had eluded Sabena for many years. It launched SN Brussels Airlines in spring 2002. The new company decided to concentrate on its core business – flying – and that remains largely true today, explains Sciot, an aviation enthusiast and former journalist who has written two books: De Crash van Sabena and Air Nostalgia.

In May that year, the airline reconnected with Africa – “the best decision ever made,” according to Sciot. “In Belgium there was a lot of pessimism around the failure of Sabena and the future of the new airline, while in Africa the name remained strong.” The continent for historic reasons had also been Sabena’s lucrative speciality. The airline code SN was deliberately maintained for trade recognition, while routes were ‘cherry-picked’ in order to drop loss-making destinations.
By 2004, the first profits were posted and in 2006-2007, a strategic merger with the low-cost European carrier Virgin Express resulted in the current company name Brussels Airlines. The next major step came in 2009 when German carrier Lufthansa bought 45 percent of the company with a call-up option for the remaining 55 percent, available for four years from 2011.

“At the moment we’ve received no indication that this will change,” explains Sciot. “We are obviously working closely together and coordinating all our flights.” In the face of global consolidation and domination of the European skies by three key players – British Airways-Iberia, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa-Star Alliance – Brussels Airlines was attracted to the last for its frequent-flyer benefits (essential for maintaining customer loyalty) and multi-hub, multi-brand policy as exhibited by the network’s takeover of Swiss and Austrian Airlines. “It really is one of the nice examples of airline integration,” he adds.

Despite passenger growth in 2011 of 20 percent, the company will close the year with a reported record €70 million loss, the result of the soaring price of aviation fuel and operating difficulties in Senegal and the Ivory Coast. With 50 European and 21 African destinations and a fleet of 47 aircraft, Brussels Airlines has yet to match the scope and size of the former Sabena network, and the company recently announced that it was retiring three planes from its fleet and cutting some European destinations over the winter to trim costs. But the business plan remains to expand long-haul activity with two Airbus 330 aircraft being added for the transatlantic route and African network. So optimism persists, assisted by a rise in passenger numbers and an increase in company turnover of 12 to 14 percent compared to 2010.

Part of the company’s new marketing strategy has been to reinforce the Belgian brand, particularly when it comes to in-flight catering. “We try to have a typical Belgian dish on all flights, such as a chicory gratin, or chicory with salmon for Muslim destinations. Passengers are also pleased to discover Belgian wines are served, along with water, beer, chocolates, cheese and desserts such as speculoos mousse,” says Sciot. “We have really invested in Belgian products as we are the first ambassador for our country. When passengers board the aircraft, there is a video of Belgium filmed from the air by Wim Robberechts.” Where financially viable, the personnel’s uniform is sourced and produced by local companies, such as the men’s shoe selection by Tongeren company Ambiorix, the women’s uniforms by Xandres, and from 2012 Bellerose will produce the men’s uniforms.

The merger with Virgin Express resulted in a raft of ticket fares, including the low-cost b.light, proving that in periods of economic uncertainty airlines need to remain affordable. A brand also needs to be instantly recognisable; Brussels Airlines’ stylised b logo, a series of ellipses that represent the airline’s network and runway ground lights, seems to have struck home with passengers. As a marketing tool, the lower-case b has proved flexible, extending to all company products, such as the inflight magazine b.there!, charity work b.foundation and b.house, a new marketing event which runs at selected international fairs. “We take over an empty building and fill it with Belgian produce,” says Sciot.

One of the company’s continuing challenges is competing with low-cost carriers, such as Ryanair operating out of Charleroi Airport, but based in Dublin for tax reasons. Sciot is naturally critical of the tax concessions available at some of Belgium’s regional airports. “All we are asking is a level playing field,” he insists. Brussels Airlines’ response is to offer its own weekend trips with passenger-friendly departure and arrival times “flying somewhere to somewhere”.

Flying pioneer Sabena

While the collapse of Sabena remains mired in controversy, with court cases still pending as ex-Sabenians continue to seek justice, the 10th anniversary has also been the occasion to step back in time with the nostalgic exhibition at Cinquantenaire Museum Le progrès venait du ciel/De Toekomst kwam uit de lucht.
For the story of Sabena is also a remarkable social history of flying and aviation in Belgium, shown via a parade of uniforms, propellers, jet engines and collectors’ items, from posters to original rattan seats. From trailblazing flying in the interwar period and the glamour of the 1950s, to the jetsetting 1970s, the company was a standard-bearer for 20th-century style and modernity and transcontinental travel. There are also reminders of Sabena’s security record, of which the company could be justifiably proud – no accidents between 1961 and 2001. At the heart of the exhibition is the museum’s collection of uniforms dating from 1947, showing how the link between fashion and flying soared in the 1950s. The Belgian company turned to many French designers for its chic livery, including Christian Dior and Louis Féraud, before turning to home stylist Olivier Strelli.

Sabena launched its inaugural flight in 1923 from Evere to the English town of Lympne in a De Havilland DH-9 aircraft and quickly marketed itself as a speedy and stylish alternative to steam boats and trains, although a return ticket from Brussels to London in 1928 cost the equivalent of about €450 today. Early competition and fixed ticketing tariffs led to innovations such as the provision of fine dining on board – the first hot meal was served in 1948 – and in seating design, particularly after the introduction of a tourist class in 1952.

Sabena’s special relationship with the African continent began in 1925 with the first flight to the Congo, in what was to become the company’s most fruitful asset. Thousands of Africans were to associate the aircrafts’ blue and white livery with Belgium, and colonial Belgians who climbed aboard its planes felt they were already ‘home’. The need to provide for expat families saw the launch of ‘nursery’ flights where childcare-trained hostesses looked after travelling children, while for those early transcontinental passengers, flying between the Congo and Belgium was a bumpy and adventurous four-day ride in aircraft ranging from the three-engine Handley-Page to the iconic Douglas DC aircrafts.

The transatlantic route was opened in 1947 and during a brief period sleeping berths were available on the New York route in DC-6s.
While flying remained the privilege of wealthy and colonial travellers, the public’s fascination with aviation saw the national airport at Zaventem become a popular family day out, with mini golf and guided tours.

Although Sabena was much maligned in its latter years, this exhibition serves not only as a timely memorial, but a fascinating reminder of the company’s role as a pioneer of aviation.

Until February 26, www.mrah.be