BRUSSELS, Belgium – December 9^th, 2009 - At an official ceremony held in Brussels’ historic “Grand-Place” today, the CEOs of the Star Alliance member airlines welcomed Brussels Airlines to the family.

Brussels Airlines is the Belgian airline offering the widest choice of flights to and from the “capital” of Europe. With a fleet of 51 aircraft the airline operates some 200 daily flights to 55 European airports and 14 African destinations.

With the addition of Brussels Airlines, customers on the Star Alliance network can now choose from more than 19,700 daily flights to reach 1,077 destinations in 175 countries. New to the network are more connections from Brussels Airport, which has now become a Star Alliance hub. These include four destinations in Africa which are presently not being served by other Star Alliance member carrier: Bujumbura, Burundi; Conakry, Guinea; Kigali, Ruanda and Monrovia, Liberia. Eleven Star Alliance member carriers serve 81 destinations in 40 countries across Africa.

Belgium has now become a home market for the Star Alliance network, thereby improving the customer proposition for both business and leisure customers. Hence, Star Alliance can now offer an enhanced portfolio of flight connections from Brussels, including a large increase in nonstop flights, to the advantage of many multinational companies as well as the various political institutions residing in Belgium.
On the fares side, Brussels Airlines is participating in three of the alliance’s fare products: the Round the World fare, Europe Airpass and Africa Airpass. For the Star Alliance Round the World fare, customers can make use of Brussels Airlines flights when creating their itineraries, especially for flights within Europe and to and from Africa.
For visitors to Europe, the extensive network from Brussels creates new possibilities to travel on the Europe Airpass. For the Africa Airpass, Brussels Airlines provides numerous connections to Africa, from where customers can commence their travel.

Last but not least, Frequent Flyer benefits have also been enhanced, with customers from all member airlines now able to earn and redeem miles on more flights than ever before.

Brussels Airlines HON Circle and Senator cardholders have been given Star Alliance Gold status while Brussels Airlines Frequent Traveller cardholders have Star Alliance Silver status. All other Star Alliance Gold and Silver status holders will be given the appropriate benefits when travelling on Brussels Airlines. Gold status privileges include access to 980 lounges across the network.

Note to editors: a live broadcast of the press conference is available at:
www.joiningeventceb.com

About Star Alliance:
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries.

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