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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
Commenced operations3 June 2018
HubsBrussels South Charleroi Airport
Secondary hubsLiège Airport (Cargo)
Fleet size7
Destinations4
HeadquartersMont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium[1]
Key peopleNiky Terzakis (CEO)
Employees278 (2019)
Websiteairbelgium.com

Air Belgium S.A. is a Belgian scheduled and charter airline headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert and based at Brussels South Charleroi Airport.[2]

History

In the summer of 2016, the company was started with CEO Niky Terzakis, who worked previously for ASL Airlines Belgium, formerly TNT Airways.[3][4][5] 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.[2]

The first flight from Brussels to Hong Kong was planned to take off in October 2017,[3] however this was postponed as the airline lacked an air operator's certificate (AOC).[6] 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.[2][7]

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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[citation needed]

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.

On 21 September 2018, the airline announced that scheduled operations between Charleroi and Hong Kong would be suspended during winter,[10][11] and the airline would instead focus on charter operations. The route should have restarted at the end of March 2019,[10] 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.[12]

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.[13]

On 30 January 2021, Air Belgium announced that cargo flights will start with four Airbus A330-200F based in Liège Airport, on behalf of French shipping giant CMA CGM, which is purchasing the airframes and contracting with Air Belgium to fly them.[14]

On 1 July, Air Belgium modernises its fleet with the induction of two new Airbus A330-900 aircraft and will fly from Brussels Airport to Mauritius from 15 October, 2021.[15]

Passenger destinations

As of April 2021, Air Belgium has scheduled destinations as follows.[16][17]

Country City Airport Notes Refs
Belgium Brussels Brussels Airport Begins 15 October 2021 [18]
Belgium Charleroi Brussels South Charleroi Airport Hub
Curaçao Willemstad Curaçao International Airport [19]
Dominican Republic Punta Cana Punta Cana International Airport Begins 15 December 2021 [20]
Guadeloupe Pointe-à-Pitre Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport [13]
Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong International Airport Terminated [12]
Martinique Fort de France Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport [13]
Mauritius Plaine Magnien Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport Begins 15 October 2021 [18]

Fleet

Air Belgium Airbus A340-300

As of February 2021, the airline operates the following fleet:[21][3][22][23]

Air Belgium fleet
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
B P E Total
Airbus A330-900 1 1 30 21 235 286 Deliveries from 2021[24]
Airbus A340-300 2 — 45 — 212 257 Former Finnair Fleet
1 32 21 212 265
Air Belgium Cargo fleet
Airbus A330-200F 4 — Cargo Operating for CMA CGM
Total 7 2

References

  1. ^ "Contact Us - Air Belgium". airbelgium.com.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b c "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.
  4. ^ "Air Belgium is one step closer to its launch: now hiring cabin and cockpit crew". Aviation24.be. 5 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Air Belgium". Airliner World (October 2016): 7.
  6. ^ "Two investment companies have taken a 25 percent share in Air Belgium - Aviation24.be". 28 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Air Belgium selects Brussels South Charleroi Airport". Aviation24.be. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Air Belgium secures AOC, preps for launch". ch-aviation.com. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  9. ^ dhnet.be - On connaît la date du vol inaugural de la compagnie Air Belgium (French) 2 April 2018
  10. ^ a b Belga (21 September 2018). "Air Belgium suspend pour l'hiver sa liaison vers Hong Kong" (in French). RTBF.
  11. ^ "Media Statement Air Belgium (English)". AirBelgium.com. 21 September 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Air Belgium renounces to resume its Hong Kong service, but remains committed to its development plans". airbelgium.com. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "Air Belgium | Flights to Guadeloupe and Martinique | Simply Fly Away". Air Belgium.
  17. ^ "Air Belgium sagt den Neustart ab" (in German). 14 March 2019.
  18. ^ a b "Air Belgium revises NW20 operations as of 16OCT20". 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Air Belgium starts regular flights between Belgium and Martinique to Curaçao". Curacaochronicle.com. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  20. ^ "@Airbelgium to start flights to Punta Cana from Brussels and moves Curaçao from Charleroi to Brussels !". twitter.com. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Seat Map | On Board".
  22. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World: 5. October 2019.
  23. ^ "Air Belgium Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  24. ^ "Air Belgium Looks To Swap Its Airbus A340s For A330neos". Simple Flying. 1 July 2021.

Media related to Air Belgium at Wikimedia Commons

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