According to reports that have appeared in German media, Lufthansa Group and its Star Alliance partner United Airlines are working on a project to boost air connectivity between the US and Africa by way of Brussels Zaventem airport (BRU). 

As yet few details are known about their plans, although German aviation news site aero.de has quoted Lufthansa’s CEO Carsten Spohr stating that the scope of the project is going to be significant and that it will involve Brussels Airlines, the group’s Belgian subsidiary.  

Brussels Airlines currently serves 18 destinations across Africa. Like its predecessor, Sabena, Brussels Airlines has traditionally been a major player in the Europe-Africa market, linking the Belgian capital to multiple destinations across the continent. 

Spohr reportedly claimed that, after a period of retrenchment, the time has come to boost Brussels Airlines African business again. This is also in line with what Brussels Airlines’ CEO, Dorothea von Boxberg, told Dutch airlines news site Luchtvaartnieuws.nl in an interview in February 2024, outlining the plan to strengthen the role of Brussels as an Africa-focused hub. 

The general thrust of this plan seems to be to facilitate the channeling of traffic between this extensive African network and Transatlantic flights operated by United Airlines, and possibly Air Canada, which is also a Star Alliance member. 

As of March 2024, United Airlines operates daily flights to Brussels from three of its US hubs, New York-Newark (EWR), Washington-Dulles (IAD) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD). Brussels Airlines, in turn, flies daily to New York-JFK.