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Air Belgium

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This article is about the airline established in 2016. For the airline between 1979 and 2000, see Air Belgium (1979–2000).
Air Belgium S.A.
IATA ICAO Call sign
KF ABB AIR BELGIUM
Founded27 May 2016; 8 years ago (2016-05-27)
Commenced operations3 June 2018; 6 years ago (2018-06-03)
HubsBrussels Airport
Fleet size5
HeadquartersMont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium[1]
Key peopleNiky Terzakis (CEO) [2]
RevenueIncrease €140,547,477 (2021)[3]
ProfitDecrease – €11,988,500 (2021)[3]
Employees345 (2021) [3]
Websiteairbelgium.com

Air Belgium S.A. is a Belgian charter and cargo airline headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert and based at Brussels Airport.[4] Founded in 2016, it initially launched as a scheduled passenger airline on 3 June 2018, before transitioning to charter and cargo operations on 3 October 2023.

History

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Foundation and early years

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A former Air Belgium Airbus A340-300 which was the airline's first type and was retired in 2022.

In the summer of 2016, the company was started with CEO Niky Terzakis, who worked previously for ASL Airlines Belgium, formerly TNT Airways.[5][6][7] The intention was to link Belgium to destinations in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Wuhan, Zhengzhou and Taiyuan from its base at Brussels South Charleroi Airport.[4]

The first flight from Brussels to Hong Kong was planned to take off in October 2017,[5] however this was postponed as the airline lacked an air operator's certificate (AOC).[8] In December 2017, Air Belgium announced that the first flight should now take place in March 2018 from Brussels South Charleroi Airport instead of Brussels Airport due to lower airport taxes and easy accessibility; it was also announced that, for business class and premium passengers, the airline would operate from a new dedicated terminal which would be built at the executive terminal, while economy passengers would use the regular terminal.[4][9]

On 14 March 2018, it was announced that the airline had received its AOC from the Belgian civil aviation authority and planned to begin operating scheduled flights from mid-April.[10] On 29 March 2018, the airline flew its first revenue service by operating its Airbus A340-300 in Air Belgium livery on behalf of Surinam Airways from Amsterdam to Paramaribo.[11] On 25 April 2018, the airline announced a delay to its own inaugural flight (to Hong Kong) from 30 April to 3 June 2018 due to not having the rights to operate in Russian airspace.[12]

Since the commencement of the service for the first destination, it started operating a scheduled service between Charleroi and Hong Kong. Moreover, the other aircraft of the fleet was provided to Air France for a daily service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Libreville during the 2018 summer season.[citation needed]

On 21 September 2018, the airline announced that scheduled operations between Charleroi and Hong Kong would be suspended during winter,[13][14] and the airline would instead focus on charter operations. The route should have restarted at the end of March 2019,[13] but two weeks before the planned date Air Belgium instead announced that they would be terminating the route and working towards starting new services to mainland China in mid-2019, and the Americas in late 2019 or early 2020.[15]

On 16 July 2019, the airline announced plans for flights to Fort de France and Pointe-à-Pitre by December 2019, with further plans to fly to Kinshasa and Miami.[16]

Developments since 2020

[edit]
A former Air Belgium Airbus A330-200F operated for CMA CGM Air Cargo.

On 30 January 2021, Air Belgium announced that cargo flights would start with four Airbus A330-200F based in Liège Airport, on behalf of French shipping company CMA CGM, which purchased the airframes and contracted with Air Belgium to fly them.[17] These four planes are progressively re-matriculated in France during the 2022-2023 winter. [18] On 1 July 2021, Air Belgium announced it would add two Airbus A330-900s to its fleet and operate services between Brussels Airport and Mauritius from 15 October 2021.[19]

In November 2022, Air Belgium announced the need of a recapitalisation to avoid bankruptcy after accumulating severe losses.[20] The airline already received €19 million during the same year from its Chinese minority owners which have been already used up as the airline's primary charter business did not fully recover in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.[2] The airline subsequently also announced it would cut and suspend several passenger routes.[21][2] In January 2023, Air Belgium announced that sufficient funding has been secured from private investors to keep operations running while there was no further financial support from the state.[22]

In September 2023, Air Belgium announced that all scheduled passenger flights would end on 3 October 2023, and their fleet would be operated for other airlines on an ACMI basis as part of the termination of passenger services.[23]

In January 2024, it has been reported that Air Belgium significantly downsized its workforce and plans to phase out both of their barely two year old Airbus A330-900 due to ongoing engine issues.[24]

On 19 September 2024, it was reported Air Belgium had filed for judicial reorganization, with plans to end its passenger flight operations by October 3. Air Belgium's cargo and ACMI businesses will continue to operate, and all flights scheduled after October 3 will be refunded to customers.[25]

Destinations

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As of 3 October 2023, Air Belgium operated scheduled passenger flights to the following destinations,[26] after which the airline's scheduled operations ended.[27] The following table does not include destinations operated to by the airline's charter or cargo services.

Country / Territory City Airport Start date End date Notes Refs
Belgium Brussels Brussels Airport 15 October 2021 — Hub [28][29]
Charleroi Brussels South Charleroi Airport 3 June 2018 November 2022 Terminated [30]
Bonaire Kralendijk Bonaire International Airport 4 November 2022 November 2022 Terminated [31][32]
Curaçao Willemstad Curaçao International Airport 3 July 2021 November 2022 Terminated [33][32]
Dominican Republic Punta Cana Punta Cana International Airport 15 December 2021 November 2022 Terminated [34][32]
Guadeloupe Pointe-à-Pitre Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport 6 December 2019 November 2022 Terminated [16]
Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong International Airport 3 June 2018 1 October 2018 Terminated [30][35][36][15]
Martinique Fort-de-France Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport 6 December 2019 November 2022 Terminated [16]
Mauritius Port Louis Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport 15 October 2021 3 October 2023 Terminated [28][29][37]
South Africa Cape Town Cape Town International Airport 14 September 2022 3 October 2023 Terminated [38][37]
Johannesburg O. R. Tambo International Airport 14 September 2022 3 October 2023 Terminated [38][37]

Fleet

[edit]

Current fleet

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As of August 2024, Air Belgium operates the following aircraft:[39][40]

Air Belgium fleet
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
B P E Total
Airbus A330-900 1 — 30 21 235 286 To be phased-out.[41]
Air Belgium Cargo fleet
Airbus A330-200/P2F 2 — Cargo Operated for Hongyuan Group[42]
Boeing 747-8F 2 — Cargo
Boeing 777-300ER/SF — 11[43] Cargo
Total 5 11

Former fleet

[edit]

The airline previously operated the following aircraft:[40]

Air Belgium retired fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A330-200 2 2022 2024
Airbus A330-200F 4 2021 2023 Operated for CMA CGM Air Cargo[44]
Airbus A340-300 4 2018 2022 Replaced by Airbus A330-900[45]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Contact Us - Air Belgium". airbelgium.com.
  2. ^ a b c brusselstimes.com - Charter airline Air Belgium needs €10 million to stay afloat 10 November 2022
  3. ^ a b c "Air Belgium Central Balance Sheet Office". nbb.be. National Bank of Belgium. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Air Belgium to launch operations from Brussels South Charleroi Airport in March 2018". Aviation24.be. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Air Belgium will start flying from Brussels Airport from October 2017 and unveils travel classes: economy, premium class and business class". Aviation24.be. 31 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Air Belgium is one step closer to its launch: now hiring cabin and cockpit crew". Aviation24.be. 5 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Air Belgium". Airliner World (October 2016): 7.
  8. ^ "Two investment companies have taken a 25 percent share in Air Belgium - Aviation24.be". 28 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Air Belgium selects Brussels South Charleroi Airport". Aviation24.be. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Air Belgium secures AOC, preps for launch". ch-aviation.com. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  11. ^ dhnet.be - On connaît la date du vol inaugural de la compagnie Air Belgium (French) 2 April 2018
  12. ^ aviation24.be - Air Belgium reschedules first flight from Brussels South Charleroi to Hong Kong to 3 June 2018 25 April 2018
  13. ^ a b Belga (21 September 2018). "Air Belgium suspend pour l'hiver sa liaison vers Hong Kong" (in French). RTBF.
  14. ^ "Media Statement Air Belgium (English)". AirBelgium.com. 21 September 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Air Belgium renounces to resume its Hong Kong service, but remains committed to its development plans". Air Belgium (Press release). 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  16. ^ a b c "Air Belgium launches flights from Brussels South Charleroi to French Antilles, mulls more destinations". www.aviation24.be. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  17. ^ "UPDATE: Air Belgium to launch full-cargo flights with four Airbus A330-200F planes based at Liège Airport". Aviation24.be. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  18. ^ "CMA CGM Air Cargo Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  19. ^ "Air Belgium modernises its fleet, inducts 2 new A330-900; will fly from Brussels to Mauritius". AVIATION A2Z. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  20. ^ aviation24.be - By the end of this year, Air Belgium needs at least €10 million to recapitalise 8 November 2022
  21. ^ rci.fm - Air Belgium réduit la voilure vers la Caraïbe (French) 9 November 2022
  22. ^ aerotelegraph.com (German) 3 January 2023
  23. ^ aerotime.aero - Air Belgium ceases passenger flights to focus on cargo and ACMI 19 September 2019
  24. ^ aerotelegraph.com (German) 24 February 2024
  25. ^ Birns, Hilka (19 September 2024). "Air Belgium files for bankruptcy protection, axes pax ops". CH-Aviation. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  26. ^ "Flight Schedule". Air Belgium. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  27. ^ "Air Belgium is cancelling all scheduled passenger flights to focus on ACMI and freight". 18 September 2023.
  28. ^ a b Liu, Jim (16 October 2020). "Air Belgium revises NW20 operations as of 16OCT20". Routesonline. Informa Markets. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  29. ^ a b "Air Belgium launches new route from Brussels to Mauritius". anna.aero. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  30. ^ a b Orban, André (25 April 2018). "Air Belgium reschedules first flight from Brussels South Charleroi to Hong Kong to 3 June 2018". Aviation24.be. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  31. ^ Deen, Tanya (15 March 2022). "Air Belgium to Fly to Bonaire Starting November 2022". InfoBonaire. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  32. ^ a b c rci.fm - Air Belgium réduit la voilure vers la Caraïbe (French) 9 November 2022
  33. ^ "Air Belgium starts regular flights between Belgium and Martinique to Curaçao". Air Belgium (Press release). Curaçao Chronicle. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  34. ^ @AirBelgiumFans (24 September 2021). "@Airbelgium to start flights to Punta Cana from Brussels and moves Curaçao from Charleroi to Brussels !" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 September 2021 – via Twitter.
  35. ^ McWhirter, Alex (22 September 2018). "Air Belgium to suspend Brussels-Hong Kong". Business Traveller. Panacea Media Limited. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  36. ^ Nowack, Timo (14 March 2019). "Air Belgium sagt den Neustart ab" [Air Belgium cancels the restart]. aeroTELEGRAPH (in German).
  37. ^ a b c "Air Belgium discontinues scheduled passenger service in early-Oct 2023". anna.aero. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  38. ^ a b "Air Belgium To Begin Flights To Johannesburg And Cape Town From September". Aviation Ghana. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  39. ^ "Seat Map | On Board".
  40. ^ a b "Air Belgium Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  41. ^ aerotelegraph.com - "Air Belgium forced to phase-out both Airbus A330neo" (German) 24 January 2024
  42. ^ "Hongyuan Group- Planespotters.net". 22 December 2023.
  43. ^ "China's Hongyuan Group orders 11+9 B777-300(SF)(ER)s". ch-aviation. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  44. ^ "Air Belgium retires last A330-200F". ch-aviation.com. 21 November 2023.
  45. ^ aerotelegraph.com (German) 29 March 2022
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Media related to Air Belgium at Wikimedia Commons

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