Air Belgium in 2018

[KriVa]

We’ll see how it pans out. To be honest, I’m not that hopeful.
ACMI can be a rather profitable business, but I’m not sure whether it will provide sufficient revenue during the entire year. Summer is a, rather obvious, peak period for ACMI operators, since every single airline is pretty much stretched to the limits. Once a single aircraft is AOG, it has a knock on effect on the entire schedule, forcing operators to find an ACMI solution, pretty much no matter what the cost is.
In wintertime, airlines tend to operate a much less strict schedule, with a little more slack built in. As such, finding an ACMI solution is pretty much never needed in wintertime for most airlines.

[lumumba]

But it can be good news for Brussels Airlines ....to find a solution for all the cancelled flights.

[Passenger]

On a sidenote: passengers with a confirmed booking, no matter when, may choose between full refund and a reschedule, similar to CRL-HKG-CRL or HKG-CRL-HKG (example Cathay ex-BRU). For passengers living near CRL, the transport to/from BRU is at Air Belgium's expenses. Even for passengers with a a confirmed ticket in AB's Business Class.

If AB would stop flying within 2 weeks, the indemnity (600 p/p) also applies.

[sean1982]

We’ll see how it pans out. To be honest, I’m not that hopeful.
ACMI can be a rather profitable business, but I’m not sure whether it will provide sufficient revenue during the entire year. Summer is a, rather obvious, peak period for ACMI operators, since every single airline is pretty much stretched to the limits. Once a single aircraft is AOG, it has a knock on effect on the entire schedule, forcing operators to find an ACMI solution, pretty much no matter what the cost is.
In wintertime, airlines tend to operate a much less strict schedule, with a little more slack built in. As such, finding an ACMI solution is pretty much never needed in wintertime for most airlines.

The chances are slim indeed, but to be fair, the acmi market for long haul airplanes is strange. The demand can be quite be quite high year round because Its Always summer somewhere in the world, not all airlines have long haul backup planes and there is still a B787
engine crisis ongoing. Its a question on how you position yourself in that market. In europe hifly and wamos are the biggest ones I believe, question is ... is there more room for another player.

[Boavida]

Flemish financial newspaper De Tijd: same story as L'Avenir:
https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/luchtvaa ... 51868.html

Wow, pretty destructive article....

From the moment they choose CRL (political decision, not a business one), they were doomed. Now they aren't even an airline anymore, just a rental business for other (real) airlines.

The beginning of the end for Air Belgium, VLM screws things up for the 124th time, and the disappearance of Brussels Airlines in 2019. Belgian aviation never looked so sad.

[TLspotting]

Flemish financial newspaper De Tijd: same story as L'Avenir:
https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/luchtvaa ... 51868.html

Wow, pretty destructive article....

From the moment they choose CRL (political decision, not a business one), they were doomed. Now they aren't even an airline anymore, just a rental business for other (real) airlines.

The beginning of the end for Air Belgium, VLM screws things up for the 124th time, and the disappearance of Brussels Airlines in 2019. Belgian aviation never looked so sad.

That looks like 1999-2003 period...

CityBird, Sabena, Sobelair, Birdy,...

[Acid-drop]

I hard to beleive this is just a subsidies fraud like many other airlines in ANR or LGG.
The guy has a name to defend, and today he looks like the biggest clown of the country.

[Apuneger]

That looks like 1999-2003 period...

CityBird, Sabena, Sobelair, Birdy,...

You can add VG Airlines (Delsey Airlines) and Cargo B (a bit later) to that as well...

Best regards,
Ivan

[TLspotting]

That looks like 1999-2003 period...

CityBird, Sabena, Sobelair, Birdy,...

You can add VG Airlines (Delsey Airlines) and Cargo B (a bit later) to that as well...

Best regards,
Ivan

VLM too, zeg, it is Belgium, all fail....

Maybe an airline project on the way, maybe the one of VLM Airlines NV ?

Sierra Belgium Airways would be a nice name.

Last flight to HKG 27 September, from HKG 28 September, French-speakers young spotters will be happy to catch it in these finals flights, I'll let you search why for 27 September

Also, Frederik Ureel, on Twitter mentionned the airline could only stop its flights for the winter season.

New article appeared while I was writing : https://www.lecho.be/entreprises/aviati ... e/10051924

[travellover]

http://www.lesoir.be/179745/article/201 ... -hong-kong

In english :

Air Belgium will suspend its flight to Hong Kong

The Chinese trading partner does not fulfill its obligations, or its objectives. The Belgian airline plans to suspend the connection to Hong Kong during the winter season. And works on his strategy.

Unhappy, Niki Terzakis, boss of Air Belgium, the new Belgian company that offers flights between Charleroi and Hong Kong since June. And of which “Vers l'Avenir” has just announced the discontinuation. "Inaccurate" responds the initiator of the company, which adjusts. "We are working on different tracks, including suspending service to Hong Kong during the winter season. " From when ? In order to focus solely on flights operated for third-party companies (for the moment, Air Belgium provides flights for Air France, British Airways ...)? Too early to comment. Niki Terzakis is holding a summary: "We are working".

What is certain is that, since the launch of the line, the partner of the airline, a Chinese tourist operator raises a number of issues that have been added to more "technical" concerns, such as access to marketing and distribution system to link to travel agencies.

Ten days in Europe for 1,600 euros

In the context of UTour (already the Chinese operator at the airport of Liege), it is simply not to fulfill its commitments (or its obligations?) In terms of volume of customers. It is this operator who sets up cheap travel across Europe for Chinese tourists from different secondary cities (but nevertheless inhabited by millions of people), directly, without going through Beijing or Shanghai. This low-cost tour operator offers stays of one week to ten days in Europe from 1,600 euros per person. "We can not subsidize passengers, so the board looks at it," says Niky Terzakis.

At the end of August, he already admitted to meet issues with his Chinese partner but declared himself confident of the continuation of the strategy of the young Belgian airline. He announced three new destinations in China, one per month from September. Does the suspension of the Hong Kong relationship during the winter also put these bonds on parenthesis? "We work" meets tirelessly N. Terzakis.

[Flanker3]

HKG had a business case but not anymore after CX came in. That's when you have to decide to adapt.
If there is a business plan that could work, it was TYO, as I said from the beginning.

However, I think that the failure was not the CX competition but an internal strategy failure.
I pointed out numerous times that their yield management strategy was not going to work.
The return fares were way too high for a start-up from CRL. As a start-up airline, your goal is to fill the plane, not try to make money on individual passengers.
Every empty seat has to be compensated by doubling of the revenue on an occupied seat, so what kind of yield management are you going to achieve with an empty plane?

So everyone said that they were gonna fill up with Chinese pax from tour operators but apparently that never happened.

Air Belgium should start daily service to HND codesharing with FR by taking advantage of slots that HND will release by 2020.
Tokyo is missing a low cost connection from Europe and while CRL is not the most convenient for O&D on such a route, it opens up to FR's largest base in Europe.
For a start-up airline like Air Belgium, showing up on Ryanair's search engine is a big deal.
On the Tokyo end, they will be able to offer better schedules and HND compared to the current route of NH with NRT which offers a poor schedule and high fares.

If they only do charters, they will fail.
As someone pointed out, the summer is strong but the winter is long.

[TLspotting]

AB suspending flights as from October 1 to March 31.

[CTBke]

AB suspending flights as from October 1 to March 31.

giving Cathay and Hainan enough options to convince pax to fly through BRU with attractive prices

[Passenger]

What about the runway extension and new terminal on the south side of CRL airport, as Air Belgium is stopping flights to Hong-Kong ?

You talked too quickly. AB will start again to fly as from end March / April... To HK

Thibault, they can't restart scheduled flights. They have lost confidence from 90% of their possible clientele because what's happening now, is not their first schedule failure. Actually it already started with their first flight, which was delayed over and over and over again.

ACMI is the only way our for them (kind of a Belgian HiFly). If the damage caused by their HKG failure isn't going to be too severe, that is.

But without a Hong Kong link, what will the Chinese shareholders/investors do (Sumchenko, Yat Yip)?

[Boeing767copilot]

What about the runway extension and new terminal on the south side of CRL airport, as Air Belgium is stopping flights to Hong-Kong ?

You talked too quickly. AB will start again to fly as from end March / April... To HK

Thibault, they can't restart scheduled flights. They have lost confidence from 90% of their possible clientele because what's happening now, is not their first schedule failure. Actually it already started with their first flight, which was delayed over and over and over again.

ACMI is the only way our for them (kind of a Belgian HiFly). If the damage caused by their HKG failure isn't going to be too severe, that is.

But without a Hong Kong link, what will the Chinese shareholders/investors do (Sumchenko, Yat Yip)?

My guess: they will never restart the HKG-service.

[Flanker3]

I disagree with you strongly.
BRU is too expensive and too low yield for an A340 operation.
TATL? With Primera and DL offering 300 EUR return fares, it doesnt make any sense. Forget it.

Asia is the right market.
There is potential for routes like TYO, MNL, TPE, ICN, SIN.
FR is not perfect, but they offer very good schedules to the rest of Europe. CRL offers that and a low cost base.

Terzakis can drop a message if he needs help.
I can make TYO work out for them and even MNL by next spring.

I think that the only impressive thinh that I saw is the fact that they were able to fill the voids with charter work efficiently.

[DeltaWiskey]

Terzakis can drop a message if he needs help.
I can make TYO work out for them and even MNL by next spring.

[Passenger]

I disagree with you strongly. BRU is too expensive and too low yield for an A340 operation.

BRU proofs that they are fine for high and low yield, for low cost and legacy, ànd for whatever aircraft.

Asia is the right market. There is potential for routes like TYO, MNL, TPE, ICN, SIN.
FR is not perfect, but they offer very good schedules to the rest of Europe. CRL offers that and a low cost base.

Ryanair is useless as feeder or as add-on. Simply because of their severe sales conditions, their refusal to rebook passengers onto other airlines in case of a delay and their refusal to accept responsability for the EU indemnity.

Terzakis can drop a message if he needs help.
I can make TYO work out for them and even MNL by next spring.

The last time you offered your services to an airline via this forum, tolipanebas explained us how your aircraft would run out of fuel before reaching their destination.

- -

When Air Belgium wants to continue with their scheduled flights (HKG), they need to respect the basic market principles, and at the same time do some out of the box thinking and action.

[sean1982]

Terzakis can drop a message if he needs help.
I can make TYO work out for them and even MNL by next spring.

The last time you offered your services to an airline via this forum, tolipanebas explained us how your aircraft would run out of fuel before reaching their destination

You mean when every so called expert like yourself laughed at him because he suggested using single aisle aircraft for medium/long haul? Oh wait ... what are all the airlines doing with the max and neo?

Speaking about panebas, he’s gone very quite since it turned out his golden German future turns out to be a German slaughter?

[jan_olieslagers]

Terzakis can drop a message if he needs help.
I can make TYO work out for them and even MNL by next spring.

So predictable, so funny. Airline in trouble and POP there's the armchair airline managers. Don't give up, such contributions to light entertainment are much valued!

he’s gone very quite since it turned out ( ... )

This is extremely rude. He is gone quiet (sic!) indeed, more's the pity, but how can you tell why? Perhaps he's very sick? Perhaps found other priorities than posting here? Perhaps switched career and no more concerned with commercial air transport?