Love Letter from Brussels

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Dreamliner (No.24)

Finally, the direct flight between Brussels and Narita by All Nippon Airways is here. Last October 25 (Sunday), the first flight took off from Narita, fully booked, and arrived in Brussels the same day, just a tad later than the scheduled 15:15. Amidst the battery of cameras lined up, the Boeing 787 Dream Liner gently approaching the gate, was welcomed by a water cannon salute.

After that, a reception was held by Brussels airport and ANA to celebrate the first direct flight. From the venue the direct flight could be seen coming into the gate before one’s eyes. From the Belgian government, Deputy Prime Minister Peeters and Minister of Mobility Galant attended, which clearly shows how important the Belgian government deems the establishment of a direct flight. Actually, in May of this year, Prime Minister Michel visited Japan for the first time, along with Deputy Prime Minister Peeters. The first thing they did when they arrived in Japan was heading straight for the ANA head office for a meeting. When you think about it, as Sabena went bankrupt in the fall of 2001, the re-establishment of a direct flight remained a pending issue between the two governments for exactly 14 years.

Furthermore, I heared that His Majesty the King is also very delighted with the new direct flight. Especially one flight a day is better than His Majesty had expected, so he seemed to have been pleasantly surprised.

Dreamliner

There are several reasons for the establishment of this direct flight, aside from the enthusiasm of the Belgian government. One of these is the introduction of the Boeing 787, the so-called Dreamliner. With the use of state-of-the-art aviation engineering and the introduction of lightweight yet sturdy materials a high fuel efficiency is achieved, which makes possible the Brussels-Narita long distance flight of 12-13 hours with a size of aircraft that can accommodate only less than 200 seats. It is easy to say that “it is strange there is no direct flight from Japan to Brussels, the center of Europe”, but it cannot be established just because“it should be”. Apart from the business aspect, proper market research and a prospect of profit is of course indispensable. After carefully analyzing the trends among people moving between Japan and Belgium, it became apparent that the introduction of the Dreamliner model was required to be profitable.

Furthermore, the “dream” in “Dreamliner” doesn’t just stand for fuel efficiency. The Japanese-developed carbon fiber, which greatly contributed to the realization of such high fuel efficiency, also made it possible to create an environment that feels as being on the ground at an altitude of more than 10.000 meters. The dehydration of the skin and the subtle change in pressure that you would experience when traveling in a conventional airplane does not occur on the Dreamliner, I heard. As a result of this, it’s possible to attain deep sleep on long-haul flights, a decisive factor for enjoying long-distance travel.

Although the Boeing 787 is, as the name suggests, an aircraft from the American company Boeing, it was developed using the latest Japanese technology. In a way, you could call it a Japanese-American joint project. Not only the development of the lightweight carbon-fiber, but also its shaping into a sturdy mold and the monolithic molding on a large scale. This technique has been used in various fields already but the Dreamliner is the most recent use of it.

At the same time, preparations for the introduction of the MRJ Jet for the Japanese domestic market are also steadily progressing. When that plane becomes reality, it’ll be a historic event and big business opportunities are expected in the small and medium sized aircraft sector.

Next step: results

On a different note, right before the start of the direct connection, a delegation of Keidanren’s Committee on Europe lead by Chairman Sato, visited Brussels. The group had a meeting with several representatives of the federal government, among which deputy Prime Minister Peeters and the leaderships of the three regional governments responsible for investment and trade relations. They had a fruitful exchange of opinions on concrete measures to further strengthen the economic ties between the two countries.

The representative of Japan Airline who was present at the occasion raised the question of the importance of increasing the number of travellers from Belgium to Japan. This isn’t directly related to the direct flight but it’s still an important matter.
I’ve talked about this before in my writings; in 2014 there were approximately 19 000 Belgian visitors to Japan, ranking Belgium 12th in number of visitors from Europe. The European country with most visitors to Japan was the UK with 220 000 people.
I suggest that in light of the 150 years of friendship next year, we aim high and try to reach 50,000 visitors. Belgium has 1/5th of the UK’s population, so if this number is achieved, the visits to Japan per capita will be higher than the UK last year. When I announced this in front of a group of people from the travel industry at a celebration the next day of the inauguration of the direct flight, my suggestion was greeted by a decisive “let’s do our best!” cheer from the audience. Considering the many events that will take place in both Japan and Belgium next year, I don’t think this is an unrealistic fantasy. I’m counting on your help, everyone!

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