Corendon Air is increasingly flying out of Brussels Airport

Have you ever suffered your fate in Belgian airports in recent months due to your flights being canceled or your luggage not arriving at its destination? Let it be a consolation that it’s not always better outside. The summer of 2022 was not advertising season for Schiphol Airport. Long lines, large crowds, and canceled and missed flights have discouraged holidaymakers there. and tour operators.

For Corendon, the action was already packed. This tour operator will continue to fly from Amsterdam, but will also strengthen its presence in Brussels. Three aircraft will be deployed to Brussels, accounting for more than 200,000 available aircraft seats. Capacity increased by 35% compared to the previous summer.

This has its reasons. For example, Schiphol will put a limit on the number of passengers for the upcoming May holidays. “As a travel organisation, we are constantly misled by Schiphol because promises are not kept and a lot of capacity must eventually be canceled or moved,” says Corendon CEO Stephen van der Heyden. Corendon isn’t the first travel organization to take measures. Transavia started its summer flights from Brussels airport last year.

Brussels Airport is pleased to expand. However, this airport also does not have a great reputation, with a history of strikes and delays. “Incidental delays due to a strike are much less serious and discourage vacationers much less than the structural uncertainty about long lines and whether or not you’ll catch your flight,” says van der Heyden.

The company doesn’t have to go to Brussels for the social climate, says aviation economist Wouter Dieulf (UAntwerp). “Brussels has historically been a difficult story in terms of labor relations.” He also says that Brussels is not a cheap airport, so they had better go to Charleroi.

Brussels offers stability on another level. While Schiphol employees were fired at the time of Corona (and never returned), employees at Belgian airports can use the system of temporary unemployment. Consequently, the airport suffers from a staff shortage similar to that of Schiphol Airport. Moreover, there are more time slots in Brussels Free compared to Schiphol, which is tighter in allocating places to airlines. Duelf says Brussels Airport has also maintained tighter control over the years. Schiphol left it to the free market.

Free parking

Corendon focuses on the Belgian traveler, but also wants to entice the Dutch vacationer to fly in from Brussels. Compared to last year, more than twice as many Dutch people chose Brussels over Schiphol. The people of the southern provinces in particular know how to find their way. Corendon is therefore steadily expanding its cooperation with Brussels Airport.

Traveling from another country can still be a psychological limit for travelers. Thus, early adopters who book from the Dutch site can park for free at the airport this year – with the exception of July and August. Belgian travelers also found their way to the discount: it’s a matter of writing .nl instead of .be.

Another plus for the Dutch traveler: airline taxes in our country are still much lower than in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the airline tax has been increased to €26.43 per person per trip. In Belgium from 2 to 10 euros.

The chance of Brussels becoming a major competitor to Schiphol is not great, says Duelf, “but they can take the sweets”. Brussels ranks second in the European Airports League. FLAP airports (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris) remain the four biggest attractions, with many intercontinental destinations and transfer flights in particular.

Balkan war

Tour operator Corendon is a Turkish budget airline that offers flights from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The company was founded in the 1990s, and people who wanted to travel to Turkey by car could not travel overland because of the Balkan war. Then Turkish-Dutch Atilay Oslo, 55, started selling airline tickets from his Haarlem liquor store. The initiative grew strong, which led to the creation of Corendon. The company now owns airlines and several hotels and resorts.

Top man Uslu remains an easy-going businessman, working night shifts at Corendon’s information desk in Schiphol and cruising through the holiday fair himself and chatting to inquisitive travelers. Corendon is a family business. The current Minister of State for Culture and Information of the Netherlands, Jonai Oslo, is the sister and co-founder of Atelay Oslo. She again served in senior positions in the company between 2014 and 2020.

The Turkish-Dutch company is now heading towards Belgium. Deulf says three more Corendon planes wouldn’t be a big revolution for Brussels Airport. But the Zaventem could capitalize on Schiphol’s image problem: Even if they take control of things in Amsterdam, it will take another summer or two before the traveler’s confidence returns, he predicts.