Air Belgium to South Africa in September and aiming for the US in 2023

In an interview with Belga press agency, Air Belgium CEO Niky Terzakis reveals his ambitions for the company. After disclosing why he selected Chinese logistics giant Hongyuan as a shareholder, he announced that Air Belgium would have 11 aeroplanes at the end of 2022, four A330neo for passenger traffic, enabling the launch of new routes to South Africa, and seven mixed-fleet aircraft for freight.

Chinese logistics company Hongyuan has taken a 49% stake in Air Belgium by a 19.3 million euros capital increase, but the majority of the shares remain in Belgian hands (Terzakis himself, the Walloon government vehicles Sogepa and SRIW, the federal private equity firm FPIM and Sabena Aerospace). Hongyuan was selected preferably to other interested parties because it had a similar vision: focus on cargo, but also passenger flights to China when health conditions will allow.

Two Boeing 747-8 Freighters are added to the fleet, which will also get more Airbus A330 cargo planes when the contract between Air Belgium and French shipping company CMA CGM expires at the end of this year. They will be painted in the mixed colours of Air Belgium and Hongyuan. In September, the fleet will consist of eleven planes, of which four passenger planes.

For the next winter season, Air Belgium will add the island Bonaire in combination with Curaçao, in the Dutch Caribbean. It will take off for South Africa from Brussels, with three flights per week, simultaneously to Johannesburg and Cape Town. Flights from Charleroi to the French Antilles and from Brussels to Mauritius remain on the programme.

Air Belgium is also aiming for direct flights to the United States in 2023, as the Airbus A330neo allows it to go further than the east coast.