Jet Airways confirms it will leave Brussels Airport

The Indian airline Jet Airways has officially announced it will stop flying out of Brussels Airport on 26 March. Flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Newark and Toronto will instead leave from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol starting the next day.

Rumours of the company’s departure have been circulating for some time. Jet Airways has used Brussels as its European hub between India and North America since 2007. It is India’s largest airline, and Belgium is the country’s 10th largest trading partner. The airline moves some 650,000 passengers through Zaventem every year.

According to an airport spokesperson, Jet Airways has had a strategic partnership with Etihad Airways since 2013 and has minimised its co-operation with the Star Alliance. “So we expected that Jet Airways would re-evaluate their flights out of Brussels Airport,” the spokesperson said.

The decision has a direct effect on the 33 Jet Airways staff at Brussels Airport and indirectly affects some 300 workers in other areas such as baggage handling, catering and services. According to a representative of the airline staff’s BBTK union, a number may be able to take early retirement. In the case of redundancies, the union will negotiate a suitable sum in compensation, the spokesperson said.

Brussels Airport, meanwhile, said it was actively pursuing other airlines to take over Jet Airways’ slots.

Photo: BriYYZ/Wikimedia