Starting in October, AirBaltic will operate passenger flights to the Canary Islands from Liège Airport. The regional airport had not had any passenger flights since the beginning of this year, following TUI fly’s departure.
The flights are scheduled through the end of March 2027 and are now available for booking.
Twice weekly
The Latvian airline AirBaltic will operate twice-weekly flights from Liège to Gran Canaria and Tenerife. AirBaltic operates exclusively with modern Airbus A220-300 aircraft, more than half of which are equipped with free Starlink internet.
According to AirBaltic, Liège Airport offers significant advantages for passengers, including easy access and a human-scale atmosphere. However, the terminal has been empty since January 4, when TUI fly ceased operations due to the airport no longer meeting profitability expectations.
Major cargo hub with passenger services plans
Liège Airport is a major cargo hub, but in the coming months, the operator plans to further develop its passenger services, “with the ambition of offering a coherent range of destinations that is accessible and tailored to the expectations of travelers in the region.”
For now, there is no agreement with AirBaltic regarding the continuation or expansion of services in the longer term.
One of Europe’s densest airport regions
In any case, the impact on Charleroi Airport will likely be limited. Tenerife and Gran Canaria are also served from Brussels South Charleroi Airport. However, this amounts to only four flights per week, whereas Charleroi operates approximately 1,563 flights per month to 132 destinations worldwide.
Furthermore, Flibco is expanding its shuttle network with a new stop at Liège Airport starting March 29, integrated into the existing route between Brussels South Charleroi Airport, Liège, and Maastricht. Travelers from the Liège region can thus park at Liège Airport and take a bus to Charleroi.
These points point more to cooperation than to rivalry between the two Walloon airports. The fact that the Walloon government owns both airports certainly plays a role in this.
Plus: Liège sits in one of Europe’s densest airport regions, with Brussels Airport, Cologne Bonn Airport, Düsseldorf Airport, Maastricht Aachen Airport, and Luxembourg Airport, all within 1-1.5 hours, so travelers have tons of options.
So, the choice to relaunch passenger flights is not really a hub strategy, but rather a “let’s see if passengers come back” experiment.
