(TAN): With restrictions continuing to be enforced by many countries around the globe and the ongoing negative travel advice of the Belgian authorities, Brussels Airlines has decided to extend the temporary suspension of all its flights.
As a consequence, the Belgian home carrier won’t restart its operations before May 15th. Originally the restart was foreseen on 20 April. The airline keeps however a minimal flight capacity available for repatriation flights of the government and the transport of humanitarian freight.
[ALSO READ: Seabourn extends pause to global ship operations through June 30, 2020]
Aiming at a stable flight offer as soon as the operations will resume, Brussels Airlines is at present working on a reduced network responding to the needs of business and leisure travellers. As of the moment of the restart of its operations, the airline will in a gradual approach scale up its network offer according to the demand and needs of the markets it serves. More information on the network offered as of May 15th will be communicated soon.
During these very challenging times full of uncertainties, Brussels Airlines offers its passengers high flexibility in terms of rebooking options. Passengers have the time until 31 August to decide on a new travel date that can take place up to 30 April 2021. Next to delaying their travel, passengers can also choose to change their ticket to another destination.
On top of this, Brussels Airlines offers its customers a discount voucher of 50 euros per passenger for a rebooking. Of course rebooking fees will not be charged, regardless of which fare was booked. More information can be found on www.brusselsairlines.com and https://brusselsairlines.flightvoucher.com.
Despite the fact that Brussels Airlines is constantly working on increasing the capacity of its Service Centers, the airline is experiencing an extraordinary high number of customer requests. This unfortunately results in longer waiting times and delays in the processing of customer requests. It is important to note that customers do not need to contact the Brussels Airlines Customer Service before their original flight date. Rebooking is also possible after the planned flight date has passed. Rebookings can be done via the Customer Service Center or travel agencies.
In line with the extension of the temporary suspension of all its flight operations, Brussels Airlines prolongs the full temporary unemployment for the entire company. Exceptions are made for Brussels Airlines employees who cover the repatriation flights, maintain the fleet or prepare the restart of the operations.
“Just like the entire worldwide aviation and tourism sector, also Brussels Airlines is heavily impacted by this unprecedented crisis. Next to our passengers and employees, we should not forget about the many thousands of indirect jobs which are created in Belgium as a result of our Brussels Airlines operations. These companies are suffering too. I would like to take the opportunity and thank the incredible solidarity within the sector. I am convinced that jointly we can emerge from this crisis as an even stronger community,” said Dieter Vranckx, CEO of Brussels Airlines.
