Air Belgium continues to fly as Air One Belgium

Air Belgium will continue cargo operations under the name Air One Belgium. So reports CEO Niky Terzakis. The 64-year-old aviation entrepreneur will remain at the helm of his brainchild. However, following financial troubles, the company has now been acquired by a Dutch PESA Aviation Management consortium and British Air One Holding International.

“The bidder has bought the brand ‘Air Belgium’,” says Terzakis, who, therefore, refuses to say that the company is disappearing but rather speaks of an “evolution. “According to him, they want to preserve the airline’s DNA by taking over all the cargo personnel involved. “Nothing will change, although it will only be with cargo.”

Relaunch in March or April

Usually, Air One Belgium will officially become operational in late March or early April with the takeover of Air Belgium’s so-called AOC or “air operator’s certificate.” The Director General of Aviation of the Federal Public Service Mobility must give the go-ahead by then. After several checks, it must grant the license to the new company.

The new company, whose headquarters will remain in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Walloon Brabant, will initially also operate out of Brussels Airport with the existing fleet of four cargo planes. Terzakis assures that these will not be night flights.

Two more large aircraft should be added after June next year, for which the search for pilots has started. Additional aircraft deliveries are expected during 2026.

No social plan

Terzakis could not say much yet about the fate of the 200 or so of the approximately 400 employees who will not be making the switch. They are currently experiencing economic unemployment, which will continue in the foreseeable future. Some have already left themselves. There is also currently no social plan. “We don’t know yet what the future holds for them,” Terzakis said. It’s too early for that.”

However, Terzakis suggests operating passenger flights for other airlines again through a leasing agreement. He admits that his company’s image has been severely damaged following the sudden suspension of flights to South Africa and Mauritius in September 2023, which affected some 10,500 passengers (for 1,250 reservations).

Whether these affected passengers will see their money back remains to be seen. The question of the claim is no longer in the hands of the (future) company but rather in those of the person in charge of the judicial liquidation and the activity transfer. “Who will do it with the means that remain, and who is no more of a magician than I am…”

Frustrated and hurt

In an interview with the Belga news agency, Terzakis, who is an old hand in the air cargo business and helped grow and expand the former military airport Bierset near Liège as a cargo specialist with TNT Express, said he is proud of the journey accomplished but also frustrated and hurt by the false information he has read and the lack of support from some of his shareholder in difficult times.

He also does not regret Air Belgium’s early regional strategy, flying initially from Charleroi Airport to Hong Kong and then to the French West Indies. One of the company’s historical shareholders was the Société régionale d’investissement de Wallonie (SRIW), which has since become Wallonie Entreprendre. The financial arm of the Walloon Region had required the company to operate from a Walloon airport to invest there.

“We had to fly from Wallonia, even though there was no market logic,” sums up Niky Terzakis, deploring the ‘indecent’ way Charleroi Airport pilloried him after leaving it. He is also convinced that Air Belgium “wouldn’t be where it is today if it had been based in Liège, with 500 jobs at stake”.

Petty Belgium

However, he believes that the support of some shareholders could have been much better. “Walloon shareholders only see the interest of Wallonia, and that is somewhat logical. But it wasn’t just a company for the Walloons. I think there was no great desire to push the company forward from the outset.”

According to him, Belgium has much to offer regarding aeronautics, “but its handicap is the parochial wars,” says Terzakis, recalling the numerous criticisms from the north of the country for a company operating from Wallonia.

“We’re nowhere in terms of Belgian spirit about the national industry,” taking a stab at it, pointing out the fact that no Belgian investor has come forward to invest in Air Belgium during the turbulent period just ended, while some are willing to invest in foreign players or companies in the sector.