Report: Air Belgium to Continue Only as Third-Party Operator for Now
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Putting the lie to its motto, “Simply fly away,” beleaguered Belgian carrier Air Belgium will limp along for now, operating solely as a third-party operator for other companies, according to a report.
At a meeting of the board of directors and shareholders Thursday, the Charleroi (CRL)-based company voted to keep fulfilling its contracts for third-party flights, even though Air Belgium is operating at a substantial reduction in net assets, according to Aviator. In the meantime, the company plans to refocus on starting up its promised service to mainland China. Previous reports had suggested that Air Belgium was on the verge of liquidation.
The company’s had a spotty record in its short two years, from having to postpone its inaugural flight at the last minute because it hadn’t gotten all the necessary permissions to cancelling all flights from October 2018 through April 2019. The Air Belgium fleet, all of four A340-300s, were primarily meant to fly from Belgium to Hong Kong (HKG) three times a week, but Air Belgium yanked the route just weeks ago. One of the planes is being leased to British Airways for its London Heathrow (LHR)-Abu Dhabi (AUH) route, and will eventually switch to BA’s service from London to Dubai (DXB) from Nov. 1 to mid-December.
Calls and emails to Air Belgium were not returned.
Featured image by Jeroen Stroes Aviation Photography.
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