Air Belgium's Cargo Division Has Been Sold

CMA CGM, the French shipping company that recently ventured into air cargo, has acquired Air Belgium and some of its assets, including four aircraft and some employees, including several dozen of its pilots. The French company swooped in to acquire the struggling Belgian carrier in the past few weeks, after Belgian courts rejected a bid made by a consortium, which included Air One Aviation, a United Kingdom-based air cargo company. Acquiring Air Belgium On April 30, CMA CGM confirmed that it had acquired Air Belgium and its assets, including its brand, its four aircraft in its fleet, and employees, retaining 124 of the Belgian carrier’s 401 workers, including 72 pilots, according to The Brussels Times .

The French shipping company, which ventured into the air cargo sector in 2021. Initially, Air Belgium operated flights on behalf of CMA CGM with four Airbus A330-200F freighters, three of which were later transferred onto the French company’s air operator’s certificate (AOC) and re-registered in France as F-HMRG, F-HMRH, and F-HMRI. The fourth A330-200F, which was supposed to be registered as F-HMRM, never reached the French airline and was instead taken up by Turkey-based MNG Airlines, according to planespotters.



net . In late March, the Walloon Brabant Commercial Court approved CMA CGM’s purchase of Air Belgium, according to Belgium-based Nieuwsblad . At the time, Air Belgium said that the French company’s bid included the takeover of its two A330-200 converted freighters and two Boeing 747-8F aircraft, with an initial plan to welcome 186 out of 401 of the Belgian carrier’s employees.

“The functions of administrative, operational, ground, and flight staff, as well as cockpit crew (all aircraft categories combined), will be retained, regardless of the type of contract. The company’s activities will be developed from Brussels and Liège airports.” Judicial Reorganization CMA CGM’s acquisition of Air Belgium would put an end to the latter’s judicial reorganization, which it announced in September 2023.

Then, the carrier detailed that following a series of external events, including the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, high fuel prices, inflation, and falling consumer purchasing power, its Board “decided to review the company’s development strategy.” Henceforth, Air Belgium had focused on cargo and aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) operations and discontinued its passenger flights, which had faced competition that resulted in flying passengers being chronically unprofitable. Furthermore, the Board decided to file for judicial reorganization.

“Despite the many investments by Air Belgium in recent years and the strengthening of commercial initiatives, the Passenger business is still unprofitable,” it said, adding that in order to make the passenger operations profitable, it would require substantial investments on top of the cash the airline had already invested, which was not possible. The judicial reorganization would allow the company to negotiate with its creditors to reduce its debt, the Belgian carrier stated. The airline has one lifeline remaining: an unnamed investor that is looking into the company.

Agile Logistics Solutions Meanwhile, CMA CGM, which primarily had been a shipping company, has dabbled in the air freight market since 2021, when it opened its air cargo division with the aforementioned quartet of A330-200Fs. In September 2021, it also announced the purchase of two 777Fs, followed by an order for four A350F aircraft in November 2021 (firmed up in December 2021, another four in April 2024 ), saying that it would be the launch customer of the type. According to the French company, its decision to launch an air cargo division was made to meet its customers’ “growing demand for agile logistics solutions.

” In addition to the four A330-200Fs, which were operated by Air Belgium, it would also “conduct commercial partnerships with airlines to provide global coverage.” One of those partners was Air France-KLM, in which CMA CGM acquired a stake. However, a “tight regulatory environment” resulted in the two companies ending their commercial agreement , with the French shipper retaining its stake in the Franco-Dutch group.

According to Air France-KLM, as of December 31, 2024, CMA CGM owned an 8.8% stake in the airline group..