Did you know that American Airlines used to fly from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in the United Kingdom to Brussels in Belgium and back? Of course, the route did not run in isolation: rather, the London-Brussels flight represented the second leg of a longer journey that began in the United States of America. Nonetheless, these fifth-freedom flights were an interesting way to cross the Channel.

This experiment was ultimately relatively short-lived, with just 91 rotations between LHR and Brussels Airport being penciled in over a five-month spell. Even so, it served as an interesting exercise in slot retention for American Airlines at Heathrow during the traditionally quieter winter months. In fact, this was also a tactic that was briefly deployed at the same time by another US giant.

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CBS News reported back in September 2009 that American was set to start flying from LHR to Brussels. This ultimately manifested itself in the form of 91 rotations with the 225-seat Boeing 767-300ER that formed the second leg of a longer route from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) in Massachusetts. These flights ran from November 2009 to March 2010.

According to historical scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, frequencies fluctuated from two flights a week in November and February to as many as six in January. CBS News also noted hat the primary motivation for a US carrier to operate such flights during the quieter months was slot retention at the congested Heathrow Airport.

American Airlines No Longer Flies To Brussels In Any Capacity

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As interesting and exotic as these flights were, particularly for frequent travelers between London and Brussels who would have been more accustomed to flights on narrowbody twinjets or high-speed Eurostar rail journeys, they ultimately proved to be a flash in the pan. Indeed, after ceasing operations in late March 2010 around the time of the IATA seasonal schedule change, they never came back.

It would not be much longer before American ceased flying to Brussels altogether. Travel Mole reported just over two years later, in September 2012, that, on November 6 of that year, the carrier would cease flying between New York-JFK and Brussels, having already shelved its Chicago flights. American cited “reviewed route performance, market forecasts and trends and the future outlook” as key factors.

Today, just three airlines offer nonstop flights from the US to Brussels. United Airlines is the largest operator, with three flights a day: one apiece from Chicago, Newark, and Washington DC. Elsewhere, Brussels Airlines’ 437 US-bound flights this year are split between New York (311) and Washington DC (126), while Delta Air Lines’ 242 serve Atlanta (239) and New York-JFK (three).

United Airlines Tried A Similar Route At The Same Time

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As it happens, American was not the only major US carrier to operate fifth-freedom flights from LHR to Brussels Airport in order to protect its slots at the congested UK hub during the dark winter months. Indeed, CBS News reported that, in adding these flights, the oneworld founding member was actually following in the footsteps of its Star Alliance rival, United Airlines.

United’s London-Brussels routes originated at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). They ran more or less daily from late October in 2009 to late March in 2010, with 148 services penciled in during this period. The vast majority used widebody twinjets from the Boeing 777 family, but three November rotations also saw the smaller 767-300ER (just 183 seats) deployed.