The SN Airholding Board of Directors has elected Jan Smets, a former governor of the National Bank of Belgium and current member since July 2019, as co-chairman. Etienne Davignon will now be replaced by Jan Smets, who will continue to serve on the board of directors. Jörg Beissel will be replaced as a Board member by Christina Foerster, a former CEO of Brussels Airlines.

The Board of Directors of SN Airholding resolved to choose Jan Smets as Co-Chairman at its most recent meeting. Thorsten Dirks, a member of the Lufthansa Group Executive Board and the company's Chief Officer of IT, Digital, and Innovation, will serve as the board's vice chairman with Jan Smets.

Parallel to this, Jörg Beissel, Head of Corporate Controlling at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, will be replaced by Christina Foerster, Member of the Lufthansa Group Executive Board, Customer & Corporate Responsibility and former CEO of Brussels Airlines.

The timing, in the opinion of Etienne Davignon, is appropriate for him to pass over his Co-Chairman duties to Jan Smets after serving as the Chairman of the SN Airholding Board for 18 years and steered Brussels Airlines through difficult times. He is still a contributing member of the Board of Directors, nevertheless.

Times are difficult for Brussels Airlines. Jan is the ideal candidate to assist the Management Board of Brussels Airlines in navigating Belgium's national airline through the extraordinary crisis brought on by the global Coronavirus pandemic due to his recognised economics skills and extensive international experience. At the same time, I'm thrilled to welcome Christina Foerster to the Board. Her considerable understanding of both organisations, as a former CEO of Brussels Airlines and a member of the Lufthansa Group Executive Board, is unquestionably beneficial to Brussels Airlines.

The following individuals make up the new SN Airholding Board of Directors:

• Former Belgian National Bank Governor Jan Smets (Co-Chairman)
• Thorsten Dirks, Chief Information Officer, Digital Strategy, and Innovation for the Lufthansa Group (Co-Chairman)
• Secretary of State Edward Davignon
• Senior Vice President of Sales for Lufthansa Group Network Airlines and CCO Hub Frankfurt, Heike Birlenbach
• Christina Foerster, a former CEO of Brussels Airlines and a member of the Lufthansa Group Executive Board, Customer & Corporate Responsibility

We had to halt all of our flights briefly due to the coronavirus issue. Our entire fleet is parked and kept at Brussels Airport, with the exception of a few aircraft that are ready to transport stranded Belgians home.

You should think twice if you assume that this is a straightforward task, similar to parking a car. It takes our Maintenance & Engineering staff 400 man hours to safely store an Airbus A330 because they carefully adhere to Airbus manufacturer guidelines. This entails that all windows are taped to stop sunshine from fading the interior's colour and that the landing gear and engines are tightly packed to keep birds from building nests in them and to stop corrosion. Additionally, to keep things neat and tidy, all of our seats are covered.

All of this results in a peculiar but breathtaking sight at Brussels Airport. A taxiway even needed to be cleared because airports are not designed to park so many aircraft simultaneously.

It could seem that once an aeroplane has been parked and locked, all that is left to do is wait until it can take off once more. The maintenance and engineering employees at Brussels Airlines, however, are really kept very busy in order to maintain the fleet in good condition. For instance, the wheels must be moved slightly each day to prevent wear from the weight of the aircraft, and inspections and tests must be carried out every week. To do all of these chores, 30 Maintenance & Engineering coworkers continue to work full-time. When we are allowed to take off again, they make sure that our fleet is prepared to receive our visitors.

The unique views the Brussels Airlines fleet at the airport are captured in this collection of images. The photos are available for download and usage with permission from Brussels Airlines.

You can download video of the parking and storage process here (please use Copyright Brussels Airlines)