Belgian start-up SN Brussels has signed a commercial agreement with British Airways, ending its relationship with Virgin Express and giving a rare insight into the "grey" slot market at London Heathrow.
The agreement will see the two carriers codesharing on flights between Brussels Zaventum and London Gatwick and Heathrow. The deal evolves around the transfer of seven Heathrow peak- time slot pairs from SN to BA - further evidence of the UK flag carrier's strategy of acquiring peak-time slots from smaller European carriers to boost its position at Heathrow. BA has recently acquired Heathrow slots from Adria Air-ways, Balkan Bulgarian and Lithuanian Airlines, although in these cases it traded slots at Gatwick as part of the deal.
The SN-BA deal will see five daily rotations on a codeshare basis operated by BA, with the final details on the two remaining slot pairs still being worked out. These could be operated by SN, for the time being at least. In addition, SN and BA will share on two daily Brussels-Gatwick rotations - a new destination for SN. The agreement will come into effect for the winter season.
On top of this, SN has also signed a joint ticketing agreement with American Airlines that includes reciprocal frequent-flyer programmes. However, SN chief executive Peter Davies is quick to point out that this does not mean SNis joining the BA/American-led oneworld alliance. SN has also recently signed a deal with Continental Airlines along similar lines to that agreed with American.
Commenting on the BA deal, Davies explains: "We had to make a decision which improves the portfolio and range for our customers...Clearly, the London route is important to us. The decision was purely strategic."
In addition to the much larger network that BA can offer compared to Virgin, Davies points out that BA passengers will be able to take advantage of SN's presence in Africa, where the carriers compete on just two routes - Entebbe and Nairobi. Passengers will have the opportunity to earn and burn frequent flyer points across both airlines.
The agreement between Virgin Express and SN on Heathrow-Brussels will be terminated in October.
Source: Airline Business
