Strikes cost Brussels Airlines 14 million

The airline Brussels Airlines recorded a loss of 58 million euros in the first quarter. A quarter of this is due to the strikes that plagued the company.

Brussels Airlines has had a weak first quarter. The Belgian airline, owned by German giant Lufthansa, recorded an adjusted operating loss (EBIT) of 58 million euros in the first three months of the year. This means that the company is one third more in the red than in the same period in 2023.

The first quarter is traditionally difficult for airlines because there is less demand for travel. Brussels Airlines attributes the higher losses to strikes and strike notices as a result of staff unrest over pay and employment conditions. The pilots went on strike for a day in mid-January. At the end of February, the stewards and flight attendants stopped work for three days. In March, the pilots threatened with a new four-day strike just before Easter, but this was averted.

“As soon as a strike is threatened, we see an immediate impact on our travelers,” says financial director Nina Öwerdick in a press release. ‘When there is uncertainty, people stop booking.’ Brussels Airlines estimates the costs of these strikes and strike notices at 14 million euros. Without the strike costs, the company would have made the same loss as in the first quarter of 2023.

Brussels Airlines focuses on several parameters that did increase. The company transported 1.7 million passengers in the first three months, 4 percent more than in the first quarter of 2023. Turnover increased by 2 percent to 289 million euros. The occupancy rate also increased. “We are still on a growth path,” said Öwerdick.

Brussels Airlines wants to make more profit this year than in 2023. At that time, the company recorded an operational record profit of 53 million euros. With a profit margin of 3.4 percent, the Belgian airline is the weakest performing subsidiary of Lufthansa, which requires a margin of 8 percent.

“We expect a very good summer,” says Öwerdick. ‘Last year we also made a loss in the first quarter, but we still achieved a record profit for the entire year. We make money in the second and third quarters. And hopefully in the future we will break even in the first and fourth quarters. We are working on that.’ In concrete terms, Brussels Airlines wants to make costs more seasonal and adapt more to demand. ‘This way we limit our own costs in the winter and we have extra capacity when everyone wants to fly.’