Six Scandinavian based corporates have signed a ground-breaking deal with Belgian carrier SN Brussels Airlines.
The deal will give the companies substantial savings, possibly of up to 50%, on flights from Brussels to Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen.
In return, the six companies, Electrolux, AstraZeneca, Ericsson, Sanvik, Scania and Volvo have given SN Brussels 90% of their volume on these routes.
Mr Jo-Achim Hamburger, global travel manager for Electrolux who led negotiations for the six, said the deal took eight months to hammer out.
The group had approached SN Brussels after other airlines, understood to be BA and SAS, turned the proposal down.
“We shall achieve significant savings and we are confident that the price we are paying for flexible tickets is very competitive. SN's market share on these routes has increased from 40% to 95% since the deal was agreed,” Mr Hamburger said.
“It has been my dream to consolidate a contract with an airline for corporates which basically have a common strategy and a similar set up.”
A spokesman for SN Brussels confirmed the deal had been signed. “They approached us after other airlines turned them down. We are happy with the result.
“Some of the companies had deals with other airlines, some with us but they wanted one-stop shopping. We discussed the proposal internally and agreed to sign. Whether it is a new trend we will have to wait and see,” he said.
* The binding agreement putting SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express under the common ownership of SN Airholding was approved by the Belgian Competition Authorities late last month.
* SN Brussels Airlines reported an increase in passengers in 2004 of 9.5% over 2003. It said it carried 3,584m last year including a “heavier stake” of business travellers.