Air Congo (4H, Kinshasa N'Djili) has announced the launch of 5x weekly intercontinental flights from Kinshasa N'Djili to Brussels National on July 1, 2026, with a B787-8 wet leased from 49% shareholder Ethiopian Airlines.
The ACMI arrangement gets around the regulatory constraint affecting all air carriers certified by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which remain banned by the European Union for oversight safety reasons.
ch-aviation has reached out to Air Congo for comment. CEO Mesfin Biru previously told ch-aviation that long-haul plans included two B787-8s wet leased from Ethiopian Airlines, with further ambitions for flights to Paris CDG and Dubai International.
Air Congo's debut will end Brussels Airlines' monopoly on the direct route, while Ethiopian Airlines and Air France offer one-stop alternatives via Addis Ababa International and Paris CDG, respectively.
Meanwhile, the airline, which is majority owned (51%) by the DRC government, on May 21 took delivery of its second ATR72-600, ET-BCM (msn 1719), from Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian manages Air Congo's day-to-day operations and provides most of its aircraft, technical support, training, and maintenance oversight.
ET-BCM has been serving 11 domestic destinations and also flew to Libreville Leon M'Ba and Lomé on May 27, according to ADS-B data. It joins its sister ship ET-BCO (msn 1723), delivered in April from Ethiopian Airlines, which in turn dry leases the two new turboprops from Abelo Capital Aviation.
The latest ATR72 brings Air Congo's fleet to five aircraft, also including three B737-800s, two of them leased from Ethiopian and one from SMBC Aviation Capital, according to ch-aviation data.
