Once offering long-haul destinations as far as Hong Kong, the Caribbean and Mauritius, the troubled Brussels based airline is now under ‘judicial liquidation’ – a court-ordered sale of all assets to pay back debts – and have been told that they have four months to find a buyer. All the while, finding a way to refund 11,000 passengers.
After its inception in 2016, Air Belgium never had an easy time of it. A combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising fuel prices, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, Air Belgium’s economic situation consistently worsened over the last 8 years, with losses amounting to around €119 million. Culminating, in 2023, saw the company switch to cargo and ‘business-to-business’ operations in October of last year.
Asset Sale Likely
With liquidation becoming increasingly likely, a new law was passed in early September 2023 that paved the way for Air Belgium’s termination, it’s assets to be sold off to creditors, and a ‘newco’ being formed in its place. Even then, this still may not raise the funds needed, as the airline’s fleet is small, with its four operational cargo planes (two Airbus A330-200 and two Boeing B747-8F) currently being operated by Hongyuang Group who are already share holders in Air Belgium.
Air Belgium: a Timeline
Air Belgium was formed in 2016 by Niki Terzakis, with the initial intention to offer flights to Hong Kong and mainland China from its Brussels base. The first passenger flights taking place in June 2018 – after the original date of October 2017 being postponed due the company not gaining an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC). However, by September 2018, Air Belgium announced that flights between Brussels Charleroi and Hong Kong would be suspended over the winter, and then announced in March 2019 that it would be suspending all flights to the Island and instead would be focusing on flights directly to Mainland China.
In January 2021, the company announced its first cargo flights from Liége Airport, on behalf of Marseilles based shipping company CMA CGM. Meanwhile it also announced a new passenger route between Charleroi and Mauritius in October that year.
Just over a year later, a combination of the aftereffects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as having to change flight paths because of the War in Ukraine, lead Air Belgium to announce that it was suspending a number of flights to the more expensive destinations. Eventually, withdrawing entirely from scheduled passenger flights, instead focusing on cargo and chartered passenger flights. In turn, the fleet was considerably downsized, with its two Airbus A330-900 (both of which were just under two years old) being phased out entirely.
The Future
Which leads up to 2024, where Air Belgium – and its 500 employees – are left in the lurch, hoping that the Judicial Liquidation could lead to a new era for the company, albeit in a new ‘guise’. The need to find a buyer that can both stabilise the company, and also make it profitable will make the situation more perilous, especially with a time scale as short as a few months.
