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Air Belgium’s Charleroi-Hong Kong goes to market
April 6th 2018
New market entrant, Air Belgium, this week started selling tickets on its maiden Charleroi-Hong Kong route. Read More » From April 30, the new full-service carrier will fly the route four times a week with ex-Finnair A340-300s.
Round-trip all-in fares will start at EUR449 in economy class, EUR999 in premium economy and EUR1,799 in business class. Initially tickets will be available on airbelgium.com and soon will added to GDSs.
Air Belgium will launch destinations in Mainland China this summer, although no further details have been announced yet. The start-up will be operating from Brussels’ low-cost airport in Charleroi, south of the city. The airline is working with Charleroi’s management team to create a differentiated, “premium” customer experience, it said.
“The airport will be changing its infrastructure in such a way that it will welcome Air Belgium and its fleet of four A340-300 airplanes. The airport will be pulling out all stops to welcome every passenger in optimal circumstances,” it has said in a statement.
“A premium terminal will be created at the current Terminal Sud Executive Aviation Terminal to meet the needs of business and premium class travellers,” the airport said, and added passengers would “be on the plane within twenty minutes” from parking their cars. Construction of the terminal will begin in May and take approximately a year to be completed.
Cathay Pacific Airways started four times a week A350-900 flights between Brussels’ main airport in Zaventem and Hong Kong in late March. Hainan Airlines launched a Shenzhen-Brussels route earlier in the same month.
Air Belgium is 49.995% owned by Aviation Investment Holding NV., which is held by Hong Kong investor Peter Yip, Russian businessman Alexey Sumchenko and a third party, Mikko Rautio. Aviation Investment Holding is itself owned by Hong Kong-based firms Pioneer Topworld Ltd and Sky Master Holdings Ltd.
Air Belgium must have majority Belgian ownership to use Belgian traffic rights. The majority 50.005% equity is held by 3T Management & Associates BVBA (19.993%; represented by Air Belgium CEO, Niky Terzakis), regional government investor Societe Regionale d’Investissement de Wallonie NV (12.501%), national government investor Federale Participatie- en Investeringsmaatschappij NV (12.501%) and Sabena Aerospace NV (5.01%). The airline has paid-in capital of EUR20 million (US$25 million).
Orient Aviation understands Air Belgium is looking to capitalize on the Chinese outbound tourism market. Through its Hong Kong partners, the carrier has received investment from Mainland travel agency, UTour, which is expected to feed Air Belgium with significant group booking volumes.
It is unclear how Air Belgium hopes to compete effectively with Cathay and Hainan Airlines in the Brussels market, considering they operate fuel-guzzling A340s on the routes, fly into an airport far from downtown Brussels with planes equipped with outdated interiors.
