“The recovery was rather slow from June 2020 onwards, but in 2021 there was a clear improvement and we hope this will continue in 2022.” Such is the African battle plan of Philippe Saeys-Desmedt, vice-president in charge of sales for sub-Saharan Africa at Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines’ parent company since the end of 2016.
“Our African customers have been the most resilient of all our services worldwide,” says the manager, who has been at the helm of the carrier since the 1990s and is now leading a company that has suffered from the pandemic.
Increased flights
Brussels Airlines recorded a 45% drop in turnover during the first half of 2021, compared to the same period last year. Results for the whole of 2021 are not yet available. Over the same period, the occupancy rate decreased by 11.7 percentage points to 60.7%. In 2020, the company had a turnover of €414m ($472m), down 72% compared
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