SN 2106 London Heathrow - Brussels
4 November 2024 7:10 am

With a rare good weather forecast, I wanted to head over to Belgium for a last-minute trip. This would have been perfect for a Eurostar Snap booking, which has discount tickets for imminent departures if they have leftover seats, but their website can't confirm the train times but require payment first so a 3-day trip could turn into 1 full day of sightseeing only, or worse yet, allocate their earliest departure which would be impossible for me to take. Prices weren't too cheap either at just shy of 100 pounds roundtrip.
With a 65 minute flight time, it's only about half that of the train, so I can imagine why the Eurostar can be a better choice if you start in central London and pay a premium for that.
Searching for flights, I was a bit surprised Brussels Airlines came on the radar with a roundtrip at just under 130 pounds for Economy without checked baggage. The departure times were good with an early morning flight out of London and an evening return from Brussels. They're a part of the Lufthansa group and a new airline to experience.
Getting to Heathrow was also quicker and easier for me so I decided to fly.
Online check-in the day before was relatively straight forward. Similar to flying short-haul in Europe on other traditional carriers, there is an obvious note about hand baggage limitations. Having seen the overhead lockers fill up and passengers forced to check their bags at the gate, I rarely bring my wheeled case on board these days.

The system had automatically assigned a middle seat for me and any other selection on the seat map would incur a fee. Being such a short flight across the Channel, it would only be painful for a limited amount of time so I let it be. I also didn't think an upgrade to Business Class would be good value for money either, but their system probably offers this upsale opportunity automatically.

Then the disclaimers on what not to bring in your bags followed.

A link was then provided to download reading materials for the flight. For my fare, I could download 2 titles for free within the coming 4 days. There was a good selection across a wide range of topics.

With a 7:10am departure and a mobile boarding pass, I reached a quiet Terminal 2 at around 5:30am.

A big group was waiting to get through security but there were enough lanes open to keep the line moving quickly. The scanners here are still the old ones so I had to take my laptop out.
I was surprised I got a free pass to the Plaza Premium lounge for booking my flight with an agent. With a bit of time left on my hands, I decided to try it out for breakfast. After I cleared security, I noticed the Lufthansa lounge I visited almost a year ago has been boarded up. That day, my flight to Switzerland was delayed and I got a chance to visit 3 lounges here.

Signage to the Plaza Premium lounge was a bit sporadic and I had travelled in circles to find it tucked behind the transfer counter downstairs in a hidden corner. Inside, it's a huge space with a reasonably decent selection of warm and cold foods.

After my morning green tea and a plate of food, I ventured back out to the gates. Brussels Airlines actually operates another flight 20 minutes earlier at 6:50am and with a good weather forecast over in Belgium, I tried my luck to see if I could get on that one. The gate agent was nice but because I was on a cheap Economy fare, standby was not possible.
So I wandered around the shops to see what Christmas products are on offer with the time remaining to boarding my original flight.

Today's aircraft had arrived from Brussels the night before so I had high hopes we would board and depart on time. At 6:37am, staff made a preboarding announcement, but the line moved fairly slowly as they took their time to gaze at each person's ticket to match with their passport. A few folks got stuck here for some reason, rendering one agent out of service and delaying us even more.

I settled into my front section seat and was surprised leg room was really good. My knees had plenty of distance left from the seat in front of me. Is it because I was at the front of the plane and they have extra legroom seats that I didn't know about?
It looked like a full flight and we settled and waited.

The doors closed at 7:33am and the standard safety announcements were made, emphasizing us not to charge our devices with powerbanks and beware of overheating items. The flight deck made an announcement that because of fog in Brussels, we would be delayed to 7:50am pushback, 40 minutes late. It would've been nice if I got an extra half hour of sleep at home though.
Just after the updated departure time, we still sat at the gate and the flight deck made another announcement that because the weather was still really bad, our departure would be further pushed down to 8:15am. Brussels had imposed flow control due to 250m visibility.
At 8:08am, we were asked to stow our laptops and don't consume personal alcohol, and the plane pushed back 2 minutes later, a full hour late.

We taxied into position and started to roll at 8:27am. However, we only moved a little bit before turning off the runway, making a quick stop before going back to position to try again. This was my first aborted take-off and I was curious whether it was something wrong with the plane or air traffic control.
The second attempt was successful and we departed a grey London at 8:31am. The crew made a few announcements on connections and they will provide an update closer to arrival. Meanwhile, I browsed the food for purchase catalogue to see what they've got. I've already filled up in the lounge so wasn't interested in buying anything.

Today's flight is operated by an A319, an aircraft type I haven't been on for quite some time. While there is no inflight entertainment, it's a really short flight across the Channel at about an hour total only and I got some downloaded reading material to pass the time.

As we neared Brussels, the crew came back with announcements for a number of connecting destinations. There seems to be a lot of passengers heading to Africa and the crew proactively moved a few to the front of the plane, even asking the Business Class passengers if they could take new neighbours. They also asked everyone to let those who are still stuck out back through first upon arrival so they could make their flights.
It's a really nice gesture above and beyond what is expected and everyone was calm and civilized. A young child that moved up front with a gentleman turned finicky as we descended and the crew came back to try to calm him down with a few paper cup tricks and he quieted down!
Meanwhile, the sky was completely white outside the window and indeed the fog was quite intense this morning. Another announcement came that because we are landing automatically, the captain has asked us to turn off all our electronics. Even flight mode wouldn't do.
I happily obliged but that also meant I could no longer timestamp the arrival.
Scanning out the window, I didn't even see the ground when we slammed onto the runway. We were completely immersed in the fog and I was very surprised we could even land! We reached the gate at 10:23am and passengers indeed gave way for the short connection lads through first.

The airport building looked old but has been maintained and clean. It was a long walk out but barely a wait for immigration.

About 10 minutes after getting off the plane, I was at the bus stop downstairs. Strangely, the Line 12 stop was not well signposted and didn't appear on the departure boards. Looking around, I found it on a dedicated lane just to the left of the exit and the bus' front display even shows how many minutes before it departs!
Typically, the fastest way into the city is by train, taking under 20 minutes into the central station. However, there is an airport surcharge so the ticket comes to 10.8 euros. The bus is a bit cheaper at 7.5 euros and it takes contactless.

As to whether the weather forecast was accurate or not, the fog dissipated and the blue sky peeked out as I got off the bus next to the Palais Royal half an hour later. Seems my delayed flight was a blessing in disguise!
Final Thoughts
Today's short flight came with a surprise. The weather delay didn't bug me so much since I would've been stuck in fog for an extra hour in Brussels anyway but the crew performed exceptionally well to manage the delay and the many connecting passengers. I didn't know Brussels Airlines is a major player in Africa and their reach was well beyond their former Congo colony.


With a rare good weather forecast, I wanted to head over to Belgium for a last-minute trip. This would have been perfect for a Eurostar Snap booking, which has discount tickets for imminent departures if they have leftover seats, but their website can't confirm the train times but require payment first so a 3-day trip could turn into 1 full day of sightseeing only, or worse yet, allocate their earliest departure which would be impossible for me to take. Prices weren't too cheap either at just shy of 100 pounds roundtrip. With a 65 minute flight time, it's only about half that of the train, so I can imagine why the Eurostar can be a better choice if you start in central London and pay a premium for that. Searching for flights, I was a bit surprised Brussels Airlines came on the radar with a roundtrip at just under 130 pounds for Economy without checked baggage. The departure times were good with an early morning flight out of London and an evening return from Brussels. They're a part of the Lufthansa group and a new airline to experience. Getting to Heathrow was also quicker and easier for me so I decided to fly. Online check-in the day before was relatively straight forward. Similar to flying short-haul in Europe on other traditional carriers, there is an obvious note about hand baggage limitations. Having seen the overhead lockers fill up and passengers forced to check their bags at the gate, I rarely bring my wheeled case on board these days. The system had automatically assigned a middle seat for me and any other selection on the seat map would incur a fee. Being such a short flight across the Channel, it would only be painful for a limited amount of time so I let it be. I also didn't think an upgrade to Business Class would be good value for money either, but their system probably offers this upsale opportunity automatically. Then the disclaimers on what not to bring in your bags followed. A link was then provided to download reading materials for the flight. For my fare, I could download 2 titles for free within the coming 4 days. There was a good selection across a wide range of topics. With a 7:10am departure and a mobile boarding pass, I reached a quiet Terminal 2 at around 5:30am. A big group was waiting to get through security but there were enough lanes open to keep the line moving quickly. The scanners here are still the old ones so I had to take my laptop out. I was surprised I got a free pass to the Plaza Premium lounge for booking my flight with an agent. With a bit of time left on my hands, I decided to try it out for breakfast. After I cleared security, I noticed the Lufthansa lounge I visited almost a year ago has been boarded up. That day, my flight to Switzerland was delayed and I got a chance to visit 3 lounges here. Signage to the Plaza Premium lounge was a bit sporadic and I had travelled in circles to find it tucked behind the transfer counter downstairs in a hidden corner. Inside, it's a huge space with a reasonably decent selection of warm and cold foods. After my morning green tea and a plate of food, I ventured back out to the gates. Brussels Airlines actually operates another flight 20 minutes earlier at 6:50am and with a good weather forecast over in Belgium, I tried my luck to see if I could get on that one. The gate agent was nice but because I was on a cheap Economy fare, standby was not possible. So I wandered around the shops to see what Christmas products are on offer with the time remaining to boarding my original flight. Today's aircraft had arrived from Brussels the night before so I had high hopes we would board and depart on time. At 6:37am, staff made a preboarding announcement, but the line moved fairly slowly as they took their time to gaze at each person's ticket to match with their passport. A few folks got stuck here for some reason, rendering one agent out of service and delaying us even more. I settled into my front section seat and was surprised leg room was really good. My knees had plenty of distance left from the seat in front of me. Is it because I was at the front of the plane and they have extra legroom seats that I didn't know about? It looked like a full flight and we settled and waited. The doors closed at 7:33am and the standard safety announcements were made, emphasizing us not to charge our devices with powerbanks and beware of overheating items. The flight deck made an announcement that because of fog in Brussels, we would be delayed to 7:50am pushback, 40 minutes late. It would've been nice if I got an extra half hour of sleep at home though. Just after the updated departure time, we still sat at the gate and the flight deck made another announcement that because the weather was still really bad, our departure would be further pushed down to 8:15am. Brussels had imposed flow control due to 250m visibility. At 8:08am, we were asked to stow our laptops and don't consume personal alcohol, and the plane pushed back 2 minutes later, a full hour late. We taxied into position and started to roll at 8:27am. However, we only moved a little bit before turning off the runway, making a quick stop before going back to position to try again. This was my first aborted take-off and I was curious whether it was something wrong with the plane or air traffic control. The second attempt was successful and we departed a grey London at 8:31am. The crew made a few announcements on connections and they will provide an update closer to arrival. Meanwhile, I browsed the food for purchase catalogue to see what they've got. I've already filled up in the lounge so wasn't interested in buying anything. Today's flight is operated by an A319, an aircraft type I haven't been on for quite some time. While there is no inflight entertainment, it's a really short flight across the Channel at about an hour total only and I got some downloaded reading material to pass the time. As we neared Brussels, the crew came back with announcements for a number of connecting destinations. There seems to be a lot of passengers heading to Africa and the crew proactively moved a few to the front of the plane, even asking the Business Class passengers if they could take new neighbours. They also asked everyone to let those who are still stuck out back through first upon arrival so they could make their flights. It's a really nice gesture above and beyond what is expected and everyone was calm and civilized. A young child that moved up front with a gentleman turned finicky as we descended and the crew came back to try to calm him down with a few paper cup tricks and he quieted down! Meanwhile, the sky was completely white outside the window and indeed the fog was quite intense this morning. Another announcement came that because we are landing automatically, the captain has asked us to turn off all our electronics. Even flight mode wouldn't do. I happily obliged but that also meant I could no longer timestamp the arrival. Scanning out the window, I didn't even see the ground when we slammed onto the runway. We were completely immersed in the fog and I was very surprised we could even land! We reached the gate at 10:23am and passengers indeed gave way for the short connection lads through first. The airport building looked old but has been maintained and clean. It was a long walk out but barely a wait for immigration. About 10 minutes after getting off the plane, I was at the bus stop downstairs. Strangely, the Line 12 stop was not well signposted and didn't appear on the departure boards. Looking around, I found it on a dedicated lane just to the left of the exit and the bus' front display even shows how many minutes before it departs! Typically, the fastest way into the city is by train, taking under 20 minutes into the central station. However, there is an airport surcharge so the ticket comes to 10.8 euros. The bus is a bit cheaper at 7.5 euros and it takes contactless. As to whether the weather forecast was accurate or not, the fog dissipated and the blue sky peeked out as I got off the bus next to the Palais Royal half an hour later. Seems my delayed flight was a blessing in disguise! Final Thoughts Today's short flight came with a surprise. The weather delay didn't bug me so much since I would've been stuck in fog for an extra hour in Brussels anyway but the crew performed exceptionally well to manage the delay and the many connecting passengers. I didn't know Brussels Airlines is a major player in Africa and their reach was well beyond their former Congo colony.