Brussels Airlines is to stop its Mumbai to Brussels flight from January 7 next year. In a communication to the travel community, the airline has said the termination of the flight is part of a restructuring programme to improve the airline’s long-haul network and to optimise fleet utilisation on its Africa network.
“The flights were well accepted by Indian business and leisure travellers. However, from a global perspective it is necessary to withdraw the flights,” the airline said in a communication to the travel community, adding that the Lufthansa Group continues to maintain a strong footprint in Mumbai, with three daily flights that include operations both to Frankfurt and Munich on Lufthansa, and to Zurich on Swiss Airlines.
The statement adds that the combinability of fares between the group carriers remains, which means customers starting their itinerary on Brussels Airlines flights, can always return on Lufthansa or Swiss Airlines. “Passengers with existing Brussels Airlines flight segments beyond January 7, 2019, will be rebooked on other flights,” the communication adds.
Brussels Airlines started its Mumbai-Brussels route in March 2017, venturing for the first time into the Indian subcontinent. After an initial five-weekly service, the airline added a sixth frequency in the winter season of 2017. The flight service, however, has not delivered the anticipated results and Brussels Airlines has, therefore, taken the decision to withdraw from the route and use the flight capacity to reinforce its existing African network, the key intercontinental market of the Belgium-based airline, sources said.