Startup long-haul, low-fare airline Air Belgium has received its operating certificate from Belgium’s Direction Générale Transport Aérien (DGTA), allowing it to start selling tickets for planned first revenue service with one of four Airbus A340-300s between Brussels and Hong Kong in mid-April. Headquartered in the municipality of Mont-Saint-Guibert in the province of Walloon Brabant, Air Belgium launches operations with starting capital of €20 million, divided among Belgian and European majority shareholders and Asian minority shareholders. It plans to provide low-fare direct services between Brussels and several destinations in China, such as Shanghai and Beijing, as well as other points in Asia.
In late January Air Belgium announced plans to base its operations at Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA), the second-busiest facility in the country and a reliever for the main Brussels Airport located northeast of the city. Plans call for the construction of a so-called premium terminal at the current Terminal Sud executive aviation facility, which, according to Air Brussels, will allow passengers to clear customs and board their flights within 20 minutes of arrival. Airport authorities expect construction to start at the end of May and take a year to complete. In the meantime, BSCA has promised to provide “temporary solutions” as an alternative, according to Air Belgium.
So, looks like Europe is getting another airline.
Let me know what you think below.
The airline’s plans go back at least to somewhere in 2016. It remains to be seen how successfull long-haul can be from a low-cost airport in Belgium:
The airline has no feeder connections from/to the Ryanair network.
Airbus A340-300 will operate with restrictions departing from EBCI: its single runway is currently too short allowing full capacity in terms of passengers and cargo.
Cathay will start their Hong Kong-Brussels service on 25 March and Hainan Airlines will start Shenzhen to EBBR around the same time.
