The re-invention of Brussels Airport – a story of proactive partnership

The airport launched a new name and branding in October 2006. “This was the kick-off to putting us back on the map. We launched three values for the airport – European, efficient and welcoming. We want to position ourselves as the gateway to the capital of Europe,” said Van Assche.

The airport launched a new name and branding in October 2006. “This was the kick-off to putting us back on the map. We launched three values for the airport – European, efficient and welcoming. We want to position ourselves as the gateway to the capital of Europe,” said Van Assche.

While passenger growth for 2007 as a whole was 7%, the second half of the year saw 10% growth. The airport’s route network was extended with 36 new services throughout the year, alongside seven new airlines and eight new destinations. It is a significant recovery from the downturn which saw a 26% drop in passenger traffic in 2002; the annual growth of 3-4% between 2003 and 2006 was also below the European average of 5-6%. “We are now growing at the same rate as the rest of Europe’s benchmark hubs – faster even. We are also a big cargo airport and achieved 9% growth in cargo tonnes handled last year. We have done very well in both fields and we now have a renewed momentum at the airport,” said Van Assche. He forecasts around 7% growth again in 2008 to 19 million passengers. While those figures are short of the 22 million passengers that were being handled prior to the collapse of Sabena, Brussels airport is well on the way to a full recovery. Significantly, the airport is rebuilding its transfer traffic, which disappeared after the collapse of Sabena, resulting in the loss of 6-8 million passengers.

Brussels’ innovative airline relations were demonstrated last April following a strike by the airport fire service. Van Assche: “We wanted to make a commercial gesture. There was huge suffering on the part of the airlines and passengers. We offered free landings and take-offs for four Friday’s in May. It cost us around 1700,000.”

Brussels’ innovative airline relations were demonstrated last April following a strike by the airport fire service. Van Assche: “We wanted to make a commercial gesture. There was huge suffering on the part of the airlines and passengers. We offered free landings and take-offs for four Friday’s in May. It cost us around €700,000.”

New branding

The airport launched a new name and branding in October 2006. It has since been known, unambiguously, as Brussels Airport, with the slogan ‘Welcome to Europe’. “This was the kick-off to putting us back on the map. We launched three values for the airport – European, efficient and welcoming. We want to position ourselves as the gateway to the capital of Europe,” said Van Assche. The airport is looking to create synergies with its partners; several carriers have The Brussels Airport Company logo on their aircraft. The airport also does joint advertising with airlines, such as Sky Europe, as well as concessionaires, with The Brussels Airport Company logo included on the advertisement. “We are trying to create a Brussels brand,” said Van Assche.

Customer-focused, market-driven, results-oriented

Macquarie Airports (MAp) took a 70% stake – which it recently increased to 75% – in The Brussels Airport Company at the beginning of 2005. Van Assche describes this as the single most important event for the airport. “It made a big change to the way we were looking at the airport. MAp put in place a new management team. I joined 11 months in and changed the structure of the company from infrastructure-based to a customer-focused, market-driven and results-oriented business. For the past three years we have been transforming the company,” he said. The strategic priority has been the need to accelerate traffic growth. The airport has established a ‘CBD approach’ – Customer Business Development, whereby groups are assigned responsibility for developing different segments of the business. Van Assche considers long-haul and low-cost to be the two big potential growth areas.

After the collapse of Sabena, followed by 9/11, there was little long-haul traffic left at Brussels. The airport has an objective to connect with 20 of the 30 largest gateways to Europe by 2011 and is on track to achieving that aim. It currently connects with 12, a figure that has doubled since 2005. “We will connect with 20 by 2011, which will put us at a level with the other main mid-sized airports in Europe,” said Van Assche.

“We succeeded last year in putting Brussels Airport firmly back on the map. We want to continue on the path that we’re on and be the airport that the capital of Europe deserves,” said Van Assche.

“We succeeded last year in putting Brussels Airport firmly back on the map. We want to continue on the path that we’re on and be the airport that the capital of Europe deserves,” said Van Assche.

The airport’s proactive approach to marketing and route development resulted last year in Jet Airways choosing Brussels as its European hub for services between India and North America. Jet Airways operates six routes already – three to India and three to North America. “The idea is that passengers can do cross connections. We figure that 250,000 passengers will travel on each of the three pairs and we are working on three more. The long-haul segment has been very successful for us. People thought the long-haul market at Brussels was too thin – we’ve proved it’s not,” said Van Assche.

Long-haul traffic accounted for 1.5 million passengers in 2007 – a 23% increase year-on-year. Jet Airways accounted for around 50% of the additional 300,000 passengers.

British Airways also announced in January that its new US-EU subsidiary airline ‘OpenSkies’ will begin daily services from New York to Brussels in either June or September. “We’ve proved that marketing the airport to the customer works. We no longer sit and wait – it’s about getting out there and telling passengers and airlines to come to Brussels. We offer them the destinations they want and the fares they want. We see the airport determining much more what routes are offered from here – it is a very different approach,” said Van Assche.

It is an approach that recognises the real competition that exists between airports. Indeed, as Van Assche points out, Brussels is one of the airports with the most competition. Paris, Amsterdam and London are all connected to Brussels by high-speed rail. “There is also the low-cost phenomenon with the Ryanair base at Charleroi. There is also Eindhoven, Cologne and Düsseldorf – we are competing with airports all over the place,” said Van Assche. Every year two million passengers from the Brussels area fly to a non-European destination from another European airport. Van Assche introduced the concept of market share, which the airport tracks within its catchment area. It currently stands at more than 80% and growing that share is an important KPI (Key Performance Indicator).

Airport Charges Directive

On the issue of the European Commission’s proposed Directive on Airport Charges, Van Assche stressed that it must recognise the competition that exists between airports and that it should ensure airports are able to invest in creating new capacity. “We are very much aligned with the ACI EUROPE point of view and are very much operating that way already. Brussels is in a very competitive position and we are forced to set prices that the market can accept,” he said. “We think that a regulation is a good thing, but that it should only be there in a light-handed fashion. We don’t want a regulation that starts getting involved in every potential area. It is important that airports get a good return on their investments. Airlines often forget the sort of investments that need to be made by airports.”

The low-cost segment achieved the biggest growth in 2007 – the number of low-cost carrier passengers doubling to 600,000. “Low-cost is a big opportunity for us. We were missing the boat here and could not leave low-cost development to others. We set it as a key objective to attract LCCs,” said Van Assche.

The low-cost segment achieved the biggest growth in 2007 – the number of low-cost carrier passengers doubling to 600,000. “Low-cost is a big opportunity for us. We were missing the boat here and could not leave low-cost development to others. We set it as a key objective to attract LCCs,” said Van Assche.

Partnering with Airlines

Brussels’ innovative airline relations were amply demonstrated last April following a strike by the airport fire service. Van Assche explained: “We wanted to make a commercial gesture. There was huge suffering on the part of the airlines and passengers. We offered free landings and take-offs for four Friday’s in May. It cost us around €700,000. It was a symbolic gesture; it’s easy to talk about partnership, but this was a case of ‘put your money where your mouth is’. We’re much more responsive – we have regular   meetings with airline associations. We want to make partnership something we do day to day, not just a concept.”

He continued: “It is absolutely amazing how negative the relationship between airports and airlines can be. That is not the way it should work – we are partners. This is the challenge for the future – we need to address this together. I think ACI EUROPE is doing a great job here. I think we’ve changed the nature of the relationship between the airlines and the airport here in Brussels.”

In December, the airport formally launched its first set of service standards. For example, it wants 95% of passengers screened and through security within 10 minutes. “We have certain quality standards that we need to meet in our licence. As a market-oriented company we want to set the standards ourselves. We said to the airlines, handlers, all the different players, let’s work together on standards,” said Van Assche. There are currently 16 areas with minimum requirements and goals. If a standard isn’t met, a corrective action plan will be put in place. The emphasis is on investing to improve standards if they fall short, rather than that money being spent on compensation. “Compensation is not a way to work together. We agree service standards and agree what happens if we don’t meet them,” said Van Assche.

Dedicated Low-Cost Terminal

The airport has just received final approval from the Board for a new low-cost terminal; the facility should be open in April 2009.

The airport has just received final approval from the Board for a new low-cost terminal; the facility should be open in April 2009.

The low-cost segment achieved the biggest growth in 2007 – the number of low-cost carrier passengers doubling to 600,000. This was attributable to existing LCCs Sky Europe and Vueling extending their route networks from Brussels and the arrival of several new LCCs, including easyJet, Sterling Airlines, FlyBe, Blue Air and MyAir.

“Low-cost is a big opportunity for us. We were missing the boat here and could not leave low-cost development to others. We set it as a key objective to attract LCCs,” said Van Assche.

As part of its strategy, the airport is planning a dedicated low-cost facility. “We told carriers that from the beginning. It is designed to lower their operational costs, offer fast turnaround times and lower tariffs. It’s about being customer-oriented. As long as it’s done in a transparent, fair way, I think that’s the way to do business. We see it as a separate airport facility, not just a new pier,” said Van Assche.

The airport has just received final approval from the Board and the facility should be open in April 2009. It will have a separate name, yet to be decided, and be marketed separately. “We will market it to the public as a low-cost airport from which to fly,” said Van Assche. “With everything – from parking to check-in, border control, shopping, baggage handling – we are looking at current standards and at the standards the airlines and passengers need and trying to differentiate them as much as possible. We call it the ‘value seekers’ segment. People are willing to travel more than two hours to fly low-cost, which increases the airport’s catchment area. In the next five years, we expect four million passengers in the low-cost terminal. The key is that low costs develop the markets,” he said.

Last year, Jet Airways chose Brussels as its European hub for services between India and North America. The airline operates six routes already – three to India and three to North America.

Last year, Jet Airways chose Brussels as its European hub for services between India and North America. The airline operates six routes already – three to India and three to North America.

Existing, currently unused facilities will be renovated for the low-cost terminal. There will be minimal facilities and services, but there will be shopping and F&B. “We talked to relevant potential customers and asked what they want and what they need. We will only invest what is needed,” said Van Assche. New infrastructure will be built in the form of a low-cost pier, which will have no boarding bridges.

Another fundamental element of the Brussels Airport strategy is its cargo business. Brussels is the sixth largest cargo airport in Europe, with Brucargo handling 783,727 tonnes of cargo in 2007 – up 8.9% year-on-year. This trend is the result of increased frequency on existing routes and the launch of Belgian full-freighter carrier Cargo B. The full-freight market accounted for 310,000 tonnes of Brussels’ cargo in 2007, which amounted to 14% growth. Brussels is the third largest airport in Europe in terms of full-freighter cargo.

“We have a big investment programme in our cargo zone. The first €30 million building will provide 30,000sqm of warehouse space. It is already under construction and will be finished in summer 2008. The new cargo facilities will cover a total area of 120,000sqm,” said Van Assche. The focus in 2008 is on continuing the success of 2007. “We succeeded last year in putting Brussels Airport firmly back on the map. We want to continue on the path that we’re on and be the airport that the capital of Europe deserves. We want to attract new airlines and new business and to make sure that the airlines that come here are happy and stay here,” said Van Assche. With so many positive changes and developments to report, it’s not wonder that Brussels Airport is becoming one to watch.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *