Lufthansa Group has restructured its Eurowings Group with Brussels Airlines (SN, Brussels National) to be responsible for longhaul operations while shorthaul will now fall under the purview of Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf).

Eurowings Group said in a statement that the delegation of roles would allow it to better harness each carrier's respective expertise and resources. The full-on implementation of the new setup is planned for 2019.

As such, Brussels Airlines will become a long-haul competence centre which will oversee the group's entire long-haul operations from its Brussels National hub. The Belgian carrier will actively participate in the Eurowings Group's pan-European growth strategy by expanding its operations to other bases in the French- and Dutch-speaking part of Europe.

“In only five months, Eurowings and Brussels Airlines have managed to set up a long-haul base at Düsseldorf, strengthening the group in one of its key German airports,” Eurowings Group CEO Thorsten Dirks said.

In tandem with the Brussels Airlines development, Eurowings – which focusses on European point-to-point traffic – will oversee the Group's entire short-haul portfolio from its Cologne/Bonn hub.

Both airlines will continue to operate long-haul and short-haul flights out of their respective bases in Brussels, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Vienna. As such, even though two competence centres are being created in Brussels and Cologne, functions for both long-haul and short-haul operations will remain at either location.

“The scattered European aviation landscape is beginning to consolidate – the new structure of Eurowings Group will make it possible for us to be at the helm of this development,” Dirks added.