It has been rumoured and expected for some time, but Emirates Airline finally confirmed this week that it will introduce a new daily link between its Dubai International Airport hub and Brussels Airport in Belgium’s capital city. This will be the eighth new destination in 2014 for the fast growing United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier with flights due to commence from September 5, 2014.
Hosting the European Commission, the European Council and over 120 other international organisations, Brussels is a key decision making centre. Home to thousands of international diplomats and civil servants, Emirates’ new service will add to the city’s global connectivity and contribute to further stimulating the country’s economic growth.
Brussels will be Emirates’ 147th destination, closely following the launch of Oslo, Norway on September 2, 2014. The non-stop service will be operated by a Boeing 777 in a three-class configuration. Emirates will be the first international airline to offer a First Class product from Brussels to the Middle East and Asia.
“As the centre of European politics and a hub of economic activity, Brussels is already an important offline market for Emirates. Our research has shown that there is high demand for this route from across our network, from both the business and public sector as well as leisure travelers,” said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline.
The arrival of Emirates will end the strong hold its Gulf hub rivals Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have had on passenger flows into the Middle East and further afield into Asia and Australasia. Etihad Airways launched non-stop flights to the Belgian capital from Abu Dhabi in October 2005 and Qatar Airways followed from Doha in January 2011.
These hub carriers are performing strongly as Belgium’s national carrier Brussles Airlines, although strong in Africa, has limited coverage in medium and long-haul markets to the East with only Tel Aviv currently served, while only Jet Airways (Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai), Hainan Airlines (Beijing) and Thai Airways International (Bangkok) offer direct flights into Asia.
The UAE is home to over 30 Belgian companies and over 3,000 Belgian residents. “Belgium operates an open and private enterprise-based economy and we expect this new service to further boost bilateral trade and commerce between the UAE and Belgium, which currently sits at around €4 billion per year,” added Clark.
Drawing around 7.5 million tourists each year, Belgium is also home to eleven UNESCO World Heritage sites. In tandem with the country’s growing tourism segment, Emirates expects strong passenger traffic into Brussels on the route from Dubai and also an increased tourism demand for Belgium from large markets on Emirates’ network such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines and Korea which currently lack direct passenger flights to Belgium.
The new service will greatly increase convenience and choice for the large number of Belgian consumers who currently have to travel via other airports to reach Dubai. “Brussels complements our existing European destinations and with our new flight, customers will now be able to fly direct from Brussels to Dubai, and onwards to key cities in the Far East, Australia, South Asia, the Middle East and South Africa,” said Clark.
The new route will not only be supported by passenger demand but also by the extensive bellyhold freight that the 777 can accommodate. Ranked as one of the world’s top 20 trading nations, Belgium is a key cargo hub with exports accounting for a significant percentage of the country’s GDP. Key export commodities which Emirates’ dedicated freight business, Emirates SkyCargo, expects to transport include; pharmaceuticals, automotive spare parts, chocolates, machinery and equipment and electronics. Imported air freight is also expected to be considerable.
Brussels will be the eighth new destination from Emirates this calendar year following the earlier launches of Kiev, Taipei and Boston as well as the future additions to the network of Abuja and Kano in Nigeria from August 1, 2014, Chicago, USA from August 5, 2014 and Oslo, Norway from September 2, 2014.
In our analysis below we look at the ten largest O&D markets across the Middle East and Asia from and to Brussels in 2013. The largest O&D markets in these regions not currently served with non-stop flights from Brussels are Tokyo Narita (39,438 passengers), Dubai (33,961), Hong Kong (32,022), Manila (30,506) and Shanghai (29,820).
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