Sale of Air Belgium approved
December 18, 2024
The bankruptcy sale will see sole bidders Peso and Air One take over Air Belgium’s cargo business, Air Operator’s Certificate and about half of the airline’s 400-employees.
Following the sale, Air Belgium will continue with its freighter operations, rebranded as Air One Belgium. The Air Belgium fleet currently consists of two A330-200P2Fs and two B747-8Fs, all leased and operated on behalf of the Hongyuan Group. Reports suggest that Air Belgium will expand its cargo fleet through the addition of a pair of Boeing B747-400Fs.
Air One International Holdings is the owner of cargo carrier One Air which operates two B747-400(BDSF)s and one B747-400ERF. The company also has close ties to Moldova’s Aerotranscargo and Romanian cargo carrier ROMCargo. Aerotranscargo operates two B747-400(BCF)s, three B747-400(BDSF)s, and one B747-400FSCD, while ROMCargo operates a single B747-400(BCF) and one B747-400(BDSF).
Air Belgium was formed in 2016 initially offering flights to Hong Kong and mainland China from Brussels. The first passenger flights were undertaken in June 2018 but flights between Brussels Charleroi and Hong Kong were suspended – initially just over the winter, but then focusing on flights to Mainland China only from March 2019. Cargo operations began in January 2021, initially from Liége.
The airline suffered badly from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the War in Ukraine, and Air Belgium eventually withdrew from scheduled passenger flights, which were deemed “chronically unprofitable” and ceased in September 2023, leaving 11,000 passengers stranded. Air Belgium concentrated instead on cargo operations and chartered passenger flights. The fleet was downsized, and two near-new Airbus A330-900s were phased out, and earlier this year, Air Belgium became a cargo-only airline.
