LONDON – On April 7, the Belgium flag carrier and Lufthansa Group partner airline Brussels Airlines received its first Airbus A330 aircraft that has been painted into its new colors.
Brussels’ Airbus A330
The aircraft in question is registered as OO-SFX, is a 12-year-old Airbus A330-300 series powered by two Rolls Royce Trent 772B-60 engines, which was originally delivered to Singapore Airlines back in 2010.
OO-SFX received its new look between March 13 and April 1 when the aircraft was down in Chateauroux, France which is where it had the new livery applied.
In total Brussels Airlines operates a total of nine Airbus A330-300 aircraft across its long-haul route network primarily in Central Africa, but also to a couple of U.S. destinations.
Those long-haul destinations consist of the following –
For Africa (15 Destinations):
- Abidjan in Ivory Coast
- Accra in Ghana
- Banjul in the Gambia
- Bujumbura in Burundi
- Conakry in Guinea
- Cotonou in Benin
- Dakar in Senegal
- Douala in Cameroon
- Entebbe in Uganda
- Freetown in Sierra Leone
- Kigali in Rwanda
- Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Lomé in Togo
- Luanda in Angola
- Yaoundé in Cameroon.
For the United States (2 Destinations):
- New York
- Washington D.C.
As well as their Airbus A330s, Brussels Airlines also operates a mixture of Airbus short-haul aircraft, namely the A319 and A320, of which both types have already got airframes in the new Brussels livery where the Airbus A319 was the first to receive it.
Not only this, but the airline is also due to receive three Airbus A320neo aircraft, of which the purchase was helped through the Lufthansa Group.
Controversial New Livery?
The new Brussels livery come to life five months ago, back in November 2021 when the airline showcased it on one of its Airbus A319 aircraft, registered as OO-SSO, a 17-year-old airframe that used to belong to the American carrier Frontier.
The A319 on the following day of the showcase flew its first service in the new branding to Geneva in Switzerland as flight SN2713.
At the time, Peter Gerber, Brussels Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer said the following about the new branding:
“We want to clearly mark the start of the New Brussels Airlines. For our customers, who deserve the best, but also for our employees, who are committed to the transformation that we’re pushing forward and to which they contribute every day.”
“That is why today we present the visual translation of our new start. With this new brand identity, we are ready to show our customers, our employees, our partners, and all other stakeholders that we are turning a page.”
“As one of the four Lufthansa Group network airlines, we are building the way towards a promising future. We see this new brand identity as a symbol of confidence in our company, re-emphasizing our identity as Belgium’s home carrier.”
The new airline shook up the aviation community at the time with many commenting that it was very similar to Croatia Airlines’ look, however, Brussels Airlines wants to set itself apart and has dubbed the new scheme in honor of showing its diversity across its workforce and its customers.
