newstodate.aero
Mar 18, 2014 (newstodate): Among 17 alternatives, Finnair Cargo eventually chose Brussels Zaventem Airport as its second European hub, opened on March 6, 2013.
Not surprisingly, Brussels Airport is indeed happy with its new residing carrier.
-The idea was to get better access to Continental Europe. For us it was great to be selected after this objective process, because it was a confirmation of the strengths and benefits BRU still had to offer to airlines, after some difficult years with lower volumes of cargo. As the airport developed a new strategy in regards to cargo in late 2010, including a separate business unit for its cargo activities, the news of Finnair strengthened this message to the market, says Steven Polmans, Brussels Airport Company Head of Cargo.
-With Finnair Cargo opening the hub in Brussels, we suddenly could offer our shippers and forwarders a unique Asian network via the Finnair flights with a single stop in Helsinki. At that point, Asia was still underserved with for example no direct flights to Japan, Hong Kong or Shanghai.
-So not only from a marketing point of view, also their contribution to the network offered from Brussels was a great contributor for the airport at that point and up to today. In the first year, capacity grew with more than 50 percent, showing the opportunities and needs from the local industry for such connections to and from Asia. Further expansion is envisaged for the very near future, says Mr Polmans.
Not surprisingly, Brussels Airport is indeed happy with its new residing carrier.
-The idea was to get better access to Continental Europe. For us it was great to be selected after this objective process, because it was a confirmation of the strengths and benefits BRU still had to offer to airlines, after some difficult years with lower volumes of cargo. As the airport developed a new strategy in regards to cargo in late 2010, including a separate business unit for its cargo activities, the news of Finnair strengthened this message to the market, says Steven Polmans, Brussels Airport Company Head of Cargo.
-With Finnair Cargo opening the hub in Brussels, we suddenly could offer our shippers and forwarders a unique Asian network via the Finnair flights with a single stop in Helsinki. At that point, Asia was still underserved with for example no direct flights to Japan, Hong Kong or Shanghai.
-So not only from a marketing point of view, also their contribution to the network offered from Brussels was a great contributor for the airport at that point and up to today. In the first year, capacity grew with more than 50 percent, showing the opportunities and needs from the local industry for such connections to and from Asia. Further expansion is envisaged for the very near future, says Mr Polmans.