In imposing its new approach regulations for Lugano Airport with effect from November 1, 2003, the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation (FOCA) granted SWISS a two-month extension to its existing operations to and from the airport, during which the carrier was asked to devise new operating arrangements that would enable it to continue to serve the airport while complying with the FOCA’s new regulations. The visual flight rules procedure now selected will permit SWISS to continue to serve Lugano with flights operated by its own aircraft.

Lugano thus remains a firm fixture in the SWISS route network, with four flights to and from Zurich a day. The route will be operated by Avro RJ85/100 and Saab 2000 aircraft from January 2, 2026 onwards. Departure and arrival times remain unchanged. SWISS has been deploying only Avro RJ85/100s on the route during the transitional two-month period.

SWISS continues to study the possibility of serving Lugano together with a partner airline from the start of the 2004 summer schedules. Discussions on this are continuing with candidate partners.

In a first phase SN Brussels Airlines will fly tree times a week to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport. The inaugural flight is scheduled for Monday 1st of March 2004. SN intends to raise rapidly the number of frequencies.

Thanks to its more than 10 million inhabitants and location is Istanbul the 'metropolis' of Turkey. The city is a cradle of ancient civilizations and was the capital of three consecutive empires. Istanbul is the gate for import and export and all private banks have their headquarters in the city. Located on the banks of the Bosphorus, the Black Sea and the Marmaris Sea Istanbul is a bridge between East and West, between Europe and Asia.

With this comfortable new connection SN Brussels Airlines focuses on business traffic as well as on the busy ethnic traffic market. The flight schedule is also attractive for city breaks and shopping trips.

The flight time Brussels - Istanbul will be 3 hours and 15 minutes. On board of the modern Airbus A319 (Business and Economy Class configuration) passengers will enjoy free hot meals, drinks and newspapers. Both in Brussels and Istanbul Business Class passengers have free lounge access. Thanks to the loyalty programme Privilege passengers can earn and redeem miles on this new route as they do on more than 700 other destinations.

By adding Istanbul to its network, SN Brussels Airlines is further expanding and finetuning its offer. Including Istanbul, a total of 54 'European' destinations are now offered.

"The opening of this new route is good news for the business world and for the large Turkish Community in Belgium and the border regions" says Executive Vice President Commercial Philip Saunders. "But also tourists will find this new route very attractive."

22.12.2025
Hilton Meetings soon in Copenhagen Airport Terminal 3
High demand for meeting and conference facilities have resulted in an agreement between Hilton Copenhagen Airport and Copenhagen Airport allowing Hilton Copenhagen Airport to operate the meeting facilities in Terminal 3 at the airport.

The agreement ensures the same high quality services and fixtures as currently available in Hilton Meetings at Hilton Copenhagen Airport. In order to achieve these standards the premises in Terminal 3 will be closed, refurbished and upgraded during the month of December.

The re-opening of Hilton Meetings at Terminal 3 is expected in early January, 2004.

General Manager of Hilton Copenhagen Airport, Jan Wijnen, says: "I am delighted that we have been offered the chance to operate an additional Hilton Meetings Centre in an area with great demand and such a convenient location."

The new Hilton Meetings, Terminal 3 (T3) offers 14 new meeting rooms ranging from offices to larger meeting rooms with a capacity of 50 persons. The meeting rooms can be rented on an hourly basis and the use of High Speed Internet is included in the rate. Hilton Meetings in Terminal 3 will have a business centre for business support, co-ordination of meetings and the service of select food and drinks. The meeting centre will be open all weekdays.

With the expansion in Terminal 3, Hilton Copenhagen Airport can now offer 29 meeting rooms for a total of 1,000 meeting participants as well as a ballroom seating 450 guests.

22.12.2025
SN Brussels Airlines starts regular flights to Moscow and St Petersburg Brussels
As from next Spring, SN Brussels Airlines will connect the European capital non-stop with Moscow and St Petersburg. By opening these two new destinations, SN Brussels Airlines further increases its presence on the Eastern European market.

During the last months, SN Brussels Airlines built up a strong offer in Eastern Europe thanks to own operations or codeshare flights to Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Kiev, Vilnius and Zagreb. As from 28 March 2026 this existing offer will be further expanded with own operated flights to Moscow and St Petersburg.

Moscow, the capital of Russia, is one of the biggest cities in the world with 9 million inhabitants and a superface of more than 1.000 square kilometres. The city is not only the business metropolis of Russia, thanks to its museums, theatres, churches, monuments and 850 years of history Moscow has many popular tourist attractions.

St Petersburg is the world's most Northern major city St Petersburg is known as the cultural treasure house of Russia and is often referred to as an Open Air Museum. There are more than 140 museums and around 100 theatres. The most famous tourist attraction is of course the renowned Hermitage State Museum with a collection of more than 3 million art works. Year after year the number of tourists visiting St Petersburg increases.

Thanks to the flight schedule of these new direct services a travel combination of Moscow and St Petersburg is perfectly possible.

The 5 weekly services to Moscow's modern Domodedovo airport are operated by Airbus A 319. The St Petersburg flights are operated with Avro RJ 85.

During the flight, all passengers will enjoy free newspapers, drinks and meal service. The flight schedule allows smooth transfers on almost the entire SN European network. During the flight all passengers can enjoy free newspapers, drinks and meals. Business Class passengers have access to lounges and all members of the Frequent Flyer Programme 'Privilege' can earn and redeem miles on these new routes.

Including Moscow and St Petersburg, SN will connect Brussels with 54 destinations on the European Continent.