Brussels Business Is Booming

<B>Brussels Business Is Booming</B>

By David Jonas

<I>Brussels</I> - With a new concourse on the way and a continued focus on connecting business passengers, Brussels Airport quickly is becoming an important European hub. Though Sabena is the dominant transatlantic carrier based at the airport, American, Continental, Delta and United all have a presence here, giving U.S.-based business travelers several flight options to this increasingly important business destination.

While airport passenger growth slowed last year to 8.8 percent, it still is above the European average. The new concourse, which will be connected to the main terminal building, will hold 32 gates and is expected to be ready for 2002. It sharply will increase the capacity of the airport, which now serves 20 million annual passengers, ranking eleventh in Europe.

Of those, 70 percent are business travelers and a full 30 percent are connecting passengers. As a result, the airport places a heavy emphasis on the business traveler. "The European Union and NATO are headquartered here and loads of companies have established their European bases here to be in close proximity to the EU," said Jan Van der Cruysse, an airport official. "We do focus mainly on the business traveler simply because we have to."

That focus includes more than 30 shops, a business center, a restaurant dubbed the Pilot Club that serves fine cuisine--to meet the high demand for top-notch dining--and a corporate meetings center.

The center provides 10 fully equipped meeting rooms of varying sizes, each offering videoconferencing technology and meal catering. The center also features professional services, including translating and secretarial support, all for about $45 per hour. Corporate accounts also are available.

Meanwhile, a welcome forum allows corporations to greet incoming clients or colleagues without concerns of missed appointments. "Many companies opt to have their monthly sales meetings here, for example," Van der Cruysse said. "That way, businesspersons can arrive in the morning and be on their way home that same afternoon."

But most important to the business traveler, the airport stresses quick connections. Sabena alone offers connections to 81 destinations and has established a quick transfer center that targets a 30-minute connection time (see story, page 1). In fact, airline officials said more than 50,000 passengers last year were handled in that timeframe, compared with the regional norm of 90 minutes.

The airport also has seen growth on the leisure side, primarily as a result of successful expansion of CityBird and Virgin Express, both of which are based at Brussels. In fact, Virgin Express, which shares codes with Sabena, has created a business section on many planes for Sabena's business passengers flying Virgin Express for vacations.

Frequent train service connects the airport to central Brussels, a mere eight miles away, and luxury coach service brings travelers to and from Antwerp. High-speed rail is expected to arrive at or near the airport in the coming decade, providing further access to many more travelers. Of course, high-speed trains, in many cases, can provide an alternative to air travel as they begin to link Brussels to many major cities--London, Paris and Amsterdam, to name a few--in under two hours. "For that reason, high-speed rail is a competitor and an ally," Van der Cruysse said.

Moreover, high-speed rail, along with extremely fast transfers to connecting flights, are important elements as large European airports, unlike their American counterparts, battle one another for passengers. However, like nearly all major European airports, Brussels is plagued by hefty air traffic control delays. And, despite claims of excess capacity, the airport does not have land to build another runway.

Nevertheless, the relatively uncongested airport is poised to break into the top 10 of European airports as Brussels continues to emerge as an important business destination and Sabena further integrates with Swissair, American Airlines and other international partners.

Though a luxury Sheraton hotel is at the airport, and dozens more sit in the immediate vicinity, Brussels itself offers hundreds of hotels. Midweek occupancies are quite high, with an overall full-week average near 70 percent. The crunch for rooms will ease a bit when the new 400-room Tulip Inn Brussels Boulevard opens in April.

"Brussels is business oriented and a large majority of hotels here are four and five stars," said Charles-Eric Vilain, deputy director of the Brussels Convention Bureau, who added that most properties also offer meetings and conference facilities. Convention centers also are on the rise, as are incentive-oriented programs and special events of all kinds.

"The fact that the EU is here causes a snowball effect," Vilain said. "International companies come here to lobby with the EU, resulting in more and more meetings and more and more hotel chains. Everything happens here.