Brussels Airlines hope to resume flight to Freetown, Sierra Leone next month
International flights to and from Sierra Leone were grounded by the government of Sierra Leone two months ago, in response to the rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the country, which now stands at almost a thousand.
This decision by the Sierra Leone government came as countries around the world closed their airports to help curb the transmission of the virus.
But airport lockdowns may soon come to an end, as governments and airlines across the world begin to put measures in place for the safe reopening of airports and resumption of international flights.
Writing in a press statement yesterday, Brussels Airlines – a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, said it is planning to resume flights to Freetown on the 17th of July 2020.
“The more restricted we are, the greater the longing for the outside world. And even though we are still far from normal, the world is carefully opening up again. For all those who now feel the desire to visit friends or family, to attend business appointments in person or simply to enjoy a holiday again, there is good news operations!
“After an interruption of 12 weeks, Brussels Airlines will resume flight operations on 15 June 2020. In summer 2020, we will offer a reduced route network with 240 flights weekly. This is around 30% of the European connections and 40% of intercontinental connections originally planned.
“Brussels Airlines will expand its route network gradually, enabling private and business travellers to reach 60 destinations in 34 countries by the end of August 2020.
“The Brussels Airlines offer at a glance – 45 destinations in 20 European countries, including Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain; 14 destinations in Africa, 1 destination in the USA (New York). The launch of flights to the new destination Montreal has been postponed until next year.
“Flights from Freetown will restart from the 17th of July – subject to the lifting of actual travel restrictions and approval of schedule by the authorities of Sierra Leone. Flights will operate to/from Freetown on July 17 and 31, August 14 and 28. Regular weekly schedules will start from September. Currently, the flight schedule of Brussels Airlines is being updated for the period between 15th of June and 31st of August.
“Since operations will resume with a limited flight program, for the above mentioned period further flight cancellations and schedule changes are being effected. These adaptations will be gradually implemented in the booking systems as of today; impacted PNRs will appear in your queue. We expect reservations systems to show the updated flight program as of the 4th of June.
“You can rebook passengers affected by the flight cancellations according to our involuntary rebooking rules. Alternatively, you can make a rebooking free of charge for passengers who want to change their routing based on the extended goodwill rules.”
