Belgian national carrier Brussels Airlines is to strengthen its activities in the UK market this winter with a new six times weekly route from Brussels to Edinburgh. The route will be launched on October 28, 2012 and will be flown using Airbus A319 equipment. Brussels Airlines already plans to upgrade the route in summer 2013 with two daily frequencies tentatively scheduled.

This will be the airline’s sixth destination in the UK, a market that continues to generate notable traffic flows to and from Brussels. In 2011 an estimated 711,000 O&D passengers travelled between Brussels and the UK. Brussels Airlines is the dominant carrier with a 36.3 per cent share of the O&D traffic in 2011 followed by British Airways with 25.7 per cent and then bmi regional 15.4 per cent. Alongside the point-to-point demand there is also a notable flow of passengers connecting at the Star Alliance hub in the Belgian capital to Brussels Airlines’ wider network.

The Brussels – UK market witnessed significant growth during the 1980s and 1990s reaching its peak in 1999 when 25,765 one-way flights were offered providing almost 2.86 million seats in each direction. Enhances surface transport opportunities and technology developments have meant capacity has been in decline since the turn of the Millennium and last year there were just 10,507 flights offering 893,000 seats, returning capacity to the levels seen in the mid 1980s.

The Brussels – Edinburgh route has been served by a number of carriers these past few decades. Chieftain Airways initially served the route for a four month period in 1987 between March and June, before Brussels Airlines predecessor SABENA entered the market in May 1989. Scottish European Airways flew the city pair between August 89 and May 1990 in competition with the Belgian flag carrier, while in April 2001 British Midland (later bmi regional) began flying the route too. Having boosted its own capacity in winter 2000/2001, SABENA was expected to further enhance its activities but the airline was closed in January 2002, a high-profile casualty after the 911 terrorist atrocities. Flybe picked-up the route immediately but served the market for less than a year.

The route continues to be served by bmi regional using a mix of 50-seat Embraer ERJ 145s and smaller 36-seat ERJ 135s. In 2011, an estimated 44,000 O&D travelled on the route with around nine per cent of these passengers already on Brussels Airlines ‘SN’ flights under a codeshare arrangement with bmi regional.

Edinburgh is likely to be a strong market for both business and leisure passengers. The city, the capital of Scotland, is home to the Scottish Parliament, and is the second most important financial centre of the UK, after London, due to the presence of many banks and insurance companies. It is a vibrant city, hosting a number of events, while its famous Castle, the Royal Mile Promenade and the many bars, pubs and restaurants of the Grass Market make it popular with visitors. The city is also a strong gateway to discover the Scottish countryside and other parts of the country.

In the table below we look at the planned flight schedule between Brussels and the UK this winter. Ahead of this announcement, during November 2012 there are 873 flights planned offering just over 80,000 seats in each direction, around 29 flights a day providing almost 2,700 seats in each direction. In the past couple of years Brussels Airlines has expanded its presence with frequency growth thanks initially to a support flying contract with bmi regional and more recently with Flybe and Tyrloean Airways using Bombardier Dash 8Q-400 turboprops.