Transavia Netherlands has been active at Brussels Airport since 2022, its first foreign base, initially with two aircraft. “We deliberately chose to develop the base gradually,” said Terstegge, “taking the time to get to know the Belgian market and to develop the operations step by step. In 2024, the airline will station a third aircraft at Brussels Airport.”<\/p>\n
Throughout this period, flights were operated with Dutch crews. This meant that pilots, stewards, and stewardesses were transported daily from the Netherlands to Brussels by taxi, sometimes with overnight stays in hotels, explained Marloes van Laake, operational director of Transavia. It was a conscious choice, but one that was “not really efficient or sustainable in the long term.”<\/p>\n
Last year, it was decided to establish “a fully operational, local crew base” at Brussels Airport. Recruitment began last autumn, and by the end of April, the first flight with a fully Belgian crew took off to Alicante. The Transavia base at Brussels Airport now employs around 150 people, who also work under Belgian employment contracts. They use the crew centre to start and end their workday, hold briefings for flights, and so on.<\/p>\n
Last week, Transavia added a fourth aircraft to its fleet at Zaventem. Thanks to this additional aircraft, the airline expects to transport more than one million passengers to and from Brussels Airport this year, said CEO Terstegge. The number of destinations will increase from eleven to fifteen next summer, with new routes such as Porto (Portugal) from mid-December, and later also Heraklion and Thessaloniki (Greece), as well as Ponta Delgada in the Portuguese Azores archipelago.<\/p>\n
“We are establishing our presence in Belgium for the long term,” said Terstegge. The plan is to further develop the base, although there are no concrete plans yet for a fifth aircraft.<\/p>\n
“Transavia plays an important role in the network of Brussels Airport,” said airport chief Arnaud Feist during the press conference. “The opening of this new crew centre and Transavia’s further expansion at Brussels Airport are important signals of confidence in our airport and the Belgian market.”<\/p>\n
Transavia is part of the Franco-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM. Transavia Netherlands also has bases in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, and Rotterdam. The CEO further explained that the decision to expand into Belgium was made because it is an attractive market and because growth opportunities in the Netherlands are limited.<\/p>\n