News
Air Belgium postpones launch
April 27th 2018
New market entrant, Air Belgium, has postponed the launch of flights from Brussels to Hong Kong from April 30 to June 3. Read More » The airline says the delay was due to a lack of overfly rights from Russia, as well as difficulty distributing Air Belgium fares through a global distribution system (GDS).
“At this date and despite all efforts of our teams and the Belgian authorities, we are still expecting to receive the overflight permit from the Russian authorities, knowing that overflying through the Russian airspace is unavoidable. Air Belgium did secure all other required permits well in advance. However, the Russian permit has not yet been granted,” Air Belgium CEO, Niky Terzakis, said.
“In addition to the uncertainty created by the above, the complicated and delayed GDS implementation has also prevented Chinese tourist groups from being directed to our flights,” Terzakis added.
Air Belgium is offering affected passengers a) rebooking on another airline without extra charges; b) deferred “with financial compensation”; or c) full reimbursement.
The airline was set launch four-weekly A340-300 flights from Brussels South Charleroi Airport to Hong Kong from April 30.
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.
The full-service carrier 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).
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, should “GDS implementation” be successful at last.
