The choice of airlines from Manchester into Brussels is not good. You have either BA (Bloody Awful) or SABENA (Such A Bad Experience Never Again). When you consider the importance of Manchester as the second most important city and airport and Brussels you would expect this to be a competitive route with airlines competing over the route. No such luck, you have old take it or leave it BA or could not care less SABENA.
As a first consequence of the lack of competition t costs more to fly from Manchester to Brussels than it does from London to Boston or Chicago. Fares to parts of Australia are not much more expensive. There is little difference between Club and Economy costs either, both are extortion disguised as a fare. The second consequence is that both the airlines just make no effort at customer service at all. SABENA seem to train their cabin crew at the Sod You School Of Customer Care. The food is inedible and is served in a way which suggests they know it is.
There never seems to be any English newspapers available which even Lufthansa usually manage. The SABENA lounge at Brussels Airport always seems to have 3 times as many people in it as it was designed to have and the shared one at Manchester is little better. The food and drink available in the SABENA lounges is as bad as that on the flights. If ever you are delayed at Brussels just hope you have the change available for a Mars Bar from a dispenser somewhere. The food halls are just as bad.
It is not even as if punctuality is so good you can forgive them everything else. A delay of half an hour in boarding is the norm and further delays are commonplace. Brussels does not allow flights after 2200hrs so you have to be aware that a long delay can leave you overnight. The many of us who have used the service regularly also know that the cancellation of one of the evening flights is not uncommon.
Frankly if a proper choice were available you would not fly with SABENA but there is not a true choice. To switch to BA hardly improves things in terms of cost or quality of service. It is time the Europeantransport directorate enforced competition in European air travel. The airlines will not do it voluntarily.
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Jul 17th, 2001
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