Today, in the late afternoon, the first Airbus A320 of Brussels Airlines in Eurowings colors landed at Brussels Airport. This could be the start of the full integration of Brussels Airlines into Eurowings.
Around three o’clock in the afternoon, the first Airbus A320 in full Eurowings (EW) colors with a Belgian registration is about to at Brussels Airport. Perhaps this is not so special, but it is the first short-haul aircraft that Brussels Airlines (SN) receives, which is no longer painted in its own colors. It marks the beginning of the integration program of the Belgian airline into the German low-cost carrier.
This newest Airbus with registration OO-SNN had already landed at the airport of the Belgian capital, but then still wore the colors of Laudamotion. The other 22 A319s and 16 A320s currently in the fleet are not immediately repainted, but in the future, every new narrow-body plane of SN will be painted in the blue and fuchsia colors of EW. What will happen with the long-haul fleet is not very clear at the moment. Normally Brussels will be responsible for long-haul flights but nowadays already 4 long-haul planes with a Belgian registration are flying in the colors of Eurowings: 2 Airbus A340-300’s flying from Düsseldorf and 2 A330-300’s are based at Brussels. That 2 A333’s will be painted in the colors of Brussels Airlines.
Lufthansa (LH) purchased 45% of the shares of the Belgian airline in 2008. In 2016, it announced the full acquisition of the company. What was going to happen then was not clear. In the end, LH decided to integrate Brussels Airlines into Eurowings. The German company is particularly interested in the lucrative flights to Africa. Brussels Airlines has this legacy from the bankrupt Sabena, which is a big advantage. It is the largest and most well-known European airline in Africa. That’s why Lufthansa will keep the 330’s, operating from Brussels Airport, in the colors of Brussels Airlines.
