Passengers flying from Bristol Airport to Brussels will board a new,
improved aircraft from the end of October following an agreement between
Brussels Airlines and Flybe.
The Belgian airline’s three-times daily service to Europe’s ‘capital’
is operated by Flybe under a ‘wet-lease’ contract which will see a
Bombardier Q400 introduced on the route.
The new aircraft has capacity for 78 passengers – a 60 per cent
increase in seats compared to the Embraer 145 currently operating the
service. It will bear the Brussels Airlines livery and
offer the same product and services enjoyed across the Brussels
Airlines short haul network, meaning passengers from Bristol will enjoy a
seamless product when using the flight to access onward
connections.
As one of the quietest and most technologically advanced turboprop
aircraft on the market, the Q400 will also deliver environmental
improvements. It produces 30-40 per cent less emissions on
routes where it has replaced similar capacity, older jets.
The Brussels Airlines service operates three times a day, with
convenient connections from Brussels to 21 destinations in Africa, 50
European cities and a new daily flight to New York JFK.
Flight times include an early morning departure (06:20) making it
possible to do a day’s business before returning at 16:20 or 20:50. The
winter schedule also includes a Saturday
flight.
Source:
Wiltshire Business
Regards,
Daniel
Belgium is ending its longest mission in Afghanistan, the protection
of Kabul International Airport (KAIA), over the next few months.
Starting in October, the mission will be taken over by a multinational
unit under French command and including Portuguese, Hungarian and
Albanian troops.
Belgium has been conducting the mission with around 250 troops since the beginning of 2003. Belgium will continue to participate in other NATO International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) missions in Afghanistan. In Kabul, it
will continue to have personnel assigned to ISAF headquarters and in
various Afghan National Army (ANA) schools. In Kandahar, where Belgium
has a detachment of F-16s, four Belgian instructors are mentoring the
Afghan National Air Force, and Belgian surgeons are working in the
base's military hospital. In Kunduz, Belgian personnel are supporting
the provincial reconstruction team and are members of military advisory
teams advising, training and supporting the ANA. Finally, Belgian
instructors are teaching at the ANA engineering school in
Mazar-e-Sharif.
