Brussels Airlines Business Class New York-Brussels – Flight Review
Brussels Airlines is the Belgian flag carrier and successor to what was one of the world’s oldest airlines, Sabena, which operated from 1923 through 2001. The company’s IATA code, SN, was inherited from Sabena as well.
The city of Brussels has, of course, been in the news after the deadly March 2016 terrorist attacks both at Brussels Airport and the Maalbeek metro station in the city, in which 32 persons were killed and over 300 were injured.
I had been thinking about a visit to Brussels long before the attacks occurred but I accelerated my plans and booked passage to what serves as the de facto capital of the European Union in mid April.
The Lufthansa lounge is immediately to the left of the security checkpoint at T1.
At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Brussels Airlines operates out of Terminal 1, a facility built and operated by Air France, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, and Lufthansa. The building, which opened in 1998, is home to multiple smaller carriers including Brussels and tends to have very long lines at the security checkpoint, even in the first- and business-class lines. The terminal does not have a PreCheck line because none of the carriers participates in the PreCheck trusted traveler program.
To expedite matters, I once again enlisted the services of Gateway Special Services, a company that provides VIP airport escorts to harried travelers. While there was no line at the Brussels Airlines check-in counter, there would have been a long wait to get through security. My escort whisked me through in less than three minutes.
The airline’s business-class passengers are invited to visit the Lufthansa Business Lounge prior to the flight. While it isn’t anything fancy, it’s nonetheless one of my favorite lounges thanks to the floor-to-ceiling wall of windows looking out onto the tarmac. It offers a variety of hot and cold snacks and, of course, excellent German beer.
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