Air Belgium

Air Belgium

IATA ICAO Callsign AJ ABB
Founded	1979
Ceased operations	2000
Fleet size	9
Headquarters	Brussels, Belgium

Boeing 737-300 in 1997.

Air Belgium was a charter airline that operated from Brussels, Belgium, in the 1980s and 1990s. The airline flew international services on jet aircraft.

History

In May 1979, the tour operator Sun International, the charter airline Abelag AVIATION and HERFURTH combined as one company. They began flight operations with leased aircraft, a Boeing 707 and a Boeing 737-200, flying out from Brussels to destinations around the Mediterranean.

The following year, in 1980 after the withdrawal of one of their business partners, the company was renamed AIR BELGIUM, in the hope that the company would receive more passengers from neighbouring countries.

The original livery of Air Belgium's later B757 / B737-400 / B737-300 aircraft consisted of black AIR BELGIUM titles and yellow and red striping (on the white upper and side fuselage / tail), Black-Yellow-Red being the colours of Belgium's national flag.

In 1998, Air Belgium was sold to Airtours. By the end of October 2000, Air Belgium had ceased all flight operations.

Goals

In 1990, in addition to European/Mediterranean destinations, destinations such as Fort Lauderdale, the United States and Mexico were made possible. From November 1991, flights to Palma de Mallorca were added. Soon after, scheduled flights were chartered to locations such as Alicante, Faro, Funchal, Malaga, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Tenerife.

Fleet

• 1 Boeing 707 (leased)
• 2 Boeing 737-200 (leased from Sobelair: OO-ABB; OO-PLH)
• 2 Boeing 737-300 (OO-ILF; OO-ILK)
• 2 Boeing 737-400 (OO-ILH; OO-ILJ)
• 1 Boeing 757-200 (OO-ILI)
• 1 Airbus A320-200 (OO-AEY)

Destinations

• Brussels (main base)
• Ostend (additional base)
• Mediterranean
• Canary Islands
• US and Caribbean (B757 only)

Air Belgium (2017)

In Summer 2016 a group of business entrepreneurs in Belgium, amongst whom former TNT Airways CEO Niky Terzakis, are in the process of establishing a new Belgian carrier, Air Belgium. This new carrier is to perform flights to and from three or four Chinese destinations from either Brussels Airport, Charleroi Airport or Liège Airport. Operations are possibly to start from June 2017 with either Airbus or Boeing equipment.^[1]

References

1. "Air Belgium". Airliner World (October 2016): 7.

External links