Belgian economic mission in Mumbai at the occasion of Brussels Airlines’ new route to Brussels
by Suman Gupta
Mumbai, 25 April 2017 – Since end of March, the Belgian leading airline Brussels Airlines connects Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Airport to Brussels Airport 5 times a week with a direct flight. On Monday, Bernard Gustin, CEO of Brussels Airlines, and a delegation of Belgian companies led by Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pieter De Crem, arrived in Mumbai on an economic mission to underline the importance of the route and the relations between India and Belgium.
On 30 March, Brussels Airlines was connected to Mumbai Chhatrapati Airport for the first time since the route was abandoned last year. There was a high demand from various industries (pharmaceutical, diamond, maritime, industry, amongst others), from leisure travelers and cargo forwarders to reinstate a direct service. Brussels Airlines now offers a smooth link to the European Capital 5 times a week.
This week, the CEO of Brussels Airlines Bernard Gustin and the Belgian Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pieter De Crem are in Mumbai to host an economic mission, together with a delegation of Belgian companies. The goal of the mission is to stress the economic importance of a connection between Belgium and India.
“Belgium and India are close economic partners. Our country is the 2nd EU exporter of goods to India, just behind Germany. For Indian companies, Belgium is the 4th export destination in the European Union. I am convinced that the new direct Brussels Airlines flight between Mumbai and Brussels will make that exceptional bond and trade partnership even stronger. This is why I am leading an economic mission to Mumbai to celebrate this new flight and to open up new opportunities for Belgian companies exporting to India“
– Pieter De Crem, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade
“India is an important economic partner for Belgium and has a large leisure potential at the same time. The demand for direct flights for passengers as well as for cargo is high. With our new service, we offer the diamond- and travel industry direct flights, which is an important investment in our network expansion, but also in the economic relations between India and Belgium.”
– Bernard Gustin, CEO Brussels Airlines.
“Rapidly relaunching flights to the third largest intercontinental destination served from Brussels Airport was one of our priorities, because this route connects Belgium to a fast-developing region that is much coveted by our Belgian entrepreneurs and will benefit the whole of the Belgian economy. The route will also provide some hundred jobs at Brussels Airport.”
– Arnaud Feist, CEO Brussels Airport
Flight Schedule
| Flight | From | To | Departure | Arrival | Days of the week |
| SN602 | Mumbai | Brussels | 01:05 | 07:15 | 12.456. |
| SN601 | Brussels | Mumbai | 10:45 | 23:00 | 1.345.7 |
The flight schedule consists of daytime flights to Mumbai on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The flights depart in the morning and arrive late in the evening in Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Flights leave Mumbai on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and arrive in Brussels early the next morning.
The Mumbai-Brussels flight schedule allows seamless connections to many European, African and American destinations in the Brussels Airlines network, like London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Geneva, Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Stockholm, Milan, Madrid and the intercontinental flights to New York, Toronto, Washington and 18 African destinations. By code sharing with Air India, Brussels Airlines makes it possible to travel from other Indian cities to the capital of Europe via Mumbai.
Service
On its Mumbai flights Brussels Airlines combines Belgian and Indian hospitality in its catering, its movie selection and even in its crew composition. The airline counts Indian cabin crew members amongst its cabin crew to cater to the needs of their Indian guests on the Mumbai flights. They work hand in hand with the airline’s Belgium-based crew members. On board Brussels Airlines’ Airbus A330, customers have the choice between Business Class, Economy Privilege or Economy Class. The state-of-the-art inflight entertainment with touchscreen provides more than 100 hours of movies, series, music and games.
