The Art of Winning Airline Routes feat. Leon Verhallen (Dir Aviation Development, Brussels Airport)

<p>What does it actually take to convince an airline to deploy a $200 million aircraft on a brand new route?</p><p><br></p><p>On Episode 79 of <strong>The Indian AvGeek</strong>, Vishal Mehra sits down with <strong>Leon Verhallen, Director Aviation Development at Brussels Airport Company</strong>, to look at the business of airport route development.</p><p><br></p><p>Few people have watched European aviation evolve from as many vantage points as Leon. He began his career at Fokker, spent years helping develop Amsterdam Schiphol during its emergence as one of Europe&#39;s great hubs, and has spent nearly two decades shaping the aviation strategy of Brussels Airport.</p><p><br></p><p>Leon also takes us inside the story of <strong>Jet Airways&#39; legendary Brussels scissor hub</strong>, an operation that once connected India and North America through a tightly choreographed bank of widebody flights at Brussels.</p><p><br></p><p>We discussed:</p><p>• How airports actually pitch new routes to airlines<br>• Why winning a route can take anywhere from six months to ten years<br>• The five factors airlines examine before choosing an airport<br>• Why incentives alone cannot rescue a weak route business case<br>• How Brussels competes with Amsterdam, Paris and airports across one of Europe&#39;s most contested catchments<br>• The strategy Brussels calls <strong>“Have Seats, Will Travel”</strong><br>• The role of Brussels Airlines inside Lufthansa Group<br>• Why Africa remains strategically important to the Brussels hub<br>• How pharma cargo gives Brussels another competitive advantage<br>• Why airport politics, noise restrictions and slots can alter network strategy<br>• Why Brussels believes better high-speed rail connectivity could transform its catchment<br>• How airport route development has changed over Leon&#39;s four decades in aviation</p><p><br></p><p>The Indian AdGeek streams on all podcast apps.<br>Vishal on X - <a href="https://x.com/vishal1mehra" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://x.com/vishal1mehra</a></p><p>Instagram - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vishal1mehra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.instagram.com/vishal1mehra/</a></p><p>LinkedIn - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal1mehra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal1mehra/</a></p>