This summer only 3 UK airports will operate flights to Brussels

This summer, Brussels Airlines will not fly between the city of the same name and Birmingham, and the freed-up equipment will be used on more popular and profitable summer sun routes. After that, Aegean stops flying to the West Midlands airport, and Wizz Air cuts four routes.

However, these changes have been more than offset by easyJet's new base and the arrival of Pegasus and Saudia in 2023. This was reported by simpleflying.com.

Currently, Star Alliance operates flights to Birmingham 10 times a week, using a 141-seat A319 aircraft, which has the smallest capacity. The last flight from Birmingham will take place on March 30, the day before the transition to the summer schedule of Northern Airlines.

Four days a week, the planes stay overnight in the UK, allowing for early morning flights to the European capital and day trips.

The return to the 288-mile (464 km) business and leisure route is scheduled for October 27, the first day of the winter aviation season in the north. It is expected to operate for 12 weeks, which is longer than it is now.

Trains to London and then to Brussels are also worth mentioning. The load factor in November was 64%. According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Lufthansa Group carried 6,801 passengers from Birmingham in both directions in November 2023, the last month for which data is available.

The lack of flights to Birmingham means that Brussels will have 59 weekly one-way flights to the UK this summer. These will be flights to Heathrow (40 times a week in June), Manchester (12 times a week) and Edinburgh (daily).

It is worth mentioning that in 2014 all airlines operated flights from eight British airports to Brussels: Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Manchester, and Newcastle. Back then, there were 166 flights per week in June, almost three times more than now. Birmingham was served 28 times a week, albeit using less powerful RJ100s and Dash 8 Q400s.

Earlier, TravelWise wrote about the benefits for those who make direct bookings with American Airlines.