The arrival of a direct flight service to and from São Paulo was celebrated in Brazilian style at Brussels Airport on Tuesday. A LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed at the airport in Zaventem around 10.40 before returning to the South American city at 13.10, reports Bruzz. The airline is now operating the service three times a week between Belgium and Brazil. It is the first time since 2000 that the airport has a direct passenger connection with Latin America. “This is an important milestone
for Brussels Airport and Belgian interconnectivity,” said Brussels Airport chief executive Arnaud Feist during an inauguration ceremony celebrated with samba dance and cake. “São Paulo is not only the largest city in Brazil and by extension all of Latin America, it is also the economic centre of it. The route creates new opportunities for business travel and tourism, and for the Brazilian community in Belgium of some 80,000 people, to visit family and friends,” he added. For the Brazilian ambassador to Belgium, Silvio Albuquerque, King
Albert I and Queen Elisabeth’s visit to Brazil 1920 was the start of a special bond between the two countries. “Their journey then took thirty days by sea,” he said. “The new route is a bridge between two dynamic communities, which will facilitate trade, strengthen economic partnerships, and bring people from both countries, from entrepreneurs to students and tourists, closer together.” Long-haul expansion at Brussels Airport For Brussels Airport, the launch of the new service is part of a current expansion of its long-haul network.
A first Brussels Airlines flight took off for Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania on Wednesday; its 18th destination in Sub-Saharan Africa. From 19 June, Air Canada will start operating flights between Brussels and Halifax, in eastern Canada. In March this year, the western Chinese city of Chengdu (with Air China) was added to Brussels Airport’s intercontinental network. Photo: ©LATAM Airlines
Brussels Airport, São Paulo, LATAM, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, direct flights, Zaventem, Latin America, Arnaud Feist, Silvio Albuquerque, long-haul expansion, Kilimanjaro, Air Canada, Halifax, Chengdu, Air China