Air Belgium secures AOC, preps for launch

Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) has announced it will not resume its only scheduled route from Brussels Charleroi to Hong Kong Int'l on March 31, 2019, due to unfavourable market conditions.

"The economical and operational conditions are not met to viably resume the service. It is a painful decision to make but a reasonable one when it comes to preserving our development capabilities and assure continued full employment," CEO Niky Terzakis said.

The Belgian airline said that it still plans to launch flights to two destinations in mainland China in summer 2019. Last year, the airline signed an agreement with the local authorities to launch flights to Zhengzhou in Henan province.

Air Belgium also intends to start flights to unspecified destinations in Northern America in the Winter 2019/20 season. It already secured a Foreign Air Carrier Permit from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) in late 2018.

Meanwhile, Air Belgium will focus on ACMI operations. The carrier currently wet-leases its A340-300 OO-ABB (msn 844) to British Airways (BA, London...

LOT Polish Airlines (LO, Warsaw Chopin) will wet-lease a single A340-300 from Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) from February 28 through April 19, 2019, Belgian aviation website The Aviation Eye has reported.

OO-ABA (msn 835) will be deployed on LOT's 6x weekly Warsaw Chopin-New York JFK service and will cover for one of the Polish carrier's grounded B787-8s. The contract will also mark the first time Air Belgium has operated to the United States.

Currently, three out of LOT's eight B787-8s are grounded due to issues with their Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 powerplants.

For its part, Air Belgium operates four A340-300s of which one is under a long-term wet-lease to British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) on the London Heathrow-Dubai Int'l route. The other three are used to operate ad-hoc charters and wet-leases.

Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) is planning to resume scheduled operations on March 31, 2019, with a 3x weekly service between Brussels Charleroi and Hong Kong Int'l.

The carrier has already launched ticket sales via its website. Flights will be operated with A340-300 equipment.

Air Belgium suspended its flights to Hong Kong on October 1, 2018, citing the non-fulfilment of obligations regarding pricing and traffic volume by its Chinese tour operator partner Utour. Subsequently, the airline touted flying to mainland China, specifically eyeing Zhengzhou. Although it inked a Letter of Intent with the government of the Henan province, so far the flights have not been launched.

During the Winter 2018/9 season, Air Belgium focusses on ACMI and charter services with its fleet of four A340-300s. One quadjet is currently wet-leased to British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) for London Heathrow-Dubai Int'l services, while the other three are parked.