COVID forces Air Belgium to suspend flights

Surinam Airways seeks to return troubled B777

France's CMA CGM Air Cargo to launch in late 1Q21

CMA CGM Air Cargo (Paris Orly) is set to begin its scheduled cargo operations on March 8 with a route from Liège to Chicago O'Hare operated by Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) with a A330-200F.

In a press release, the French shipping giant said that ECS Group would become its commercial agent while a blocked space agreement with CEVA Logistics is also in the pipeline. Its second A330-200F is set to enter into service on March 16. It will also be based out of Liége and operate to the United States.

Air Belgium is set to operate a total of four ex-Qatar Airways Airbus widebody dedicated freighters under a CMI agreement with CMA CGM Air Cargo. The first two units, OO-AIR (msn 1584) and OO-CMA (msn 1688), are currently undergoing pre-delivery maintenance at Dublin Int'l airport, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. The other two aircraft, A7-AFG (msn 1584) and A7-AFH (msn 1594), were retired by Qatar Airways on January 1 and January 21,...

Editorial Comment: The owner of the A330s has been corrected. - 02.03.2021 - 14:54 UTC

France's CMA CGM formally axes Groupe Dubreuil equity plans

French global shipping specialist CMA CGM has formally abandoned plans to acquire a 30% stake in Groupe Dubreuil following the unveiling of its new in-house air cargo division, CMA CGM Air Cargo (Paris Orly), last week.

The two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in September last year under which CMA CGM would have made use of bellyhold capacity on Groupe Dubreuil's French Bee and Air Caraibes subsidiaries. Sources have since told Le Figaro newspaper that despite this set back, Air Caraibes still intends to invest in the air cargo business amid depressed passenger demand.

For its part, CMA CGM Air Cargo will use Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) to operate the four A330-200(F)s it has acquired from Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int'l). The first of a pair of the freighters that will be inducted into service by March - A7-AFI (msn 1688) - was added to the Belgian register as OO-CMA last week.

“In response to the growing demand from our customers...

Air Belgium to operate two A330 freighters for CMA CGM

Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) will operate two of its four incoming A330-200(F)s under a CMI agreement with French shipping giant CMA CGM, which has reportedly set up a subsidiary to own the dedicated freighters, The Loadstar has reported citing internal sources.

The Belgian carrier recently announced that initially, it would add four of the freighters, growing to six, as it seeks to diversify away from its reliance on A340-300-operated passenger services. While the carrier did not formally confirm the type, it has been reported that it would add four ex-Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int'l) A330-200(F)s.

Sources told The Loadstar that at least two of the aircraft - thus far owned by Qatar Airways - will be acquired by CMA CGM through its new unit CMA CGM Air Cargo (Paris Orly). They will subsequently be dry-leased to Air Belgium, which will operate them on behalf of the shipping firm.

CMA CGM remains in talks with Groupe Dubreuil, the owner of Air Caraibes, Air...