European Airline Officially Shuts Down, Liquidates All Assets

Air Belgium was recently declared bankrupt by the Walloon Brabant court, ending an eight-year run of losses and uncertainty. The airline is now liquidating its assets, with little to no hope of refunding its more than $9 million in unresolved customer charges.

The carrier was founded in May of 2016 with plans to connect Belgium to long-haul destinations in Asia and the Caribbean. It launched scheduled passenger services in 2018 and, five years later, transitioned to charter and cargo operations. Air Belgium ceased all passenger operations in September 2023 and focused solely on freight in an effort that, like those before it, didn’t last.

A French logistics firm recently acquired the cargo division, salvaging 124 jobs. The rest of the company will be dissolved, and the remaining assets will be liquidated. Passengers, meanwhile, are not so lucky. According to the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association (ECTAA), roughly 8 million Euros in refund claims are outstanding. With liquidation underway, those claims now enter the black hole of bankruptcy proceedings.

More than 5 million Euros of the refund burden falls on travel agents and tour operators. These stakeholders are legally required to rebook or reimburse customers when an airline collapses, even if they never see a cent in return. ECTAA argues that this setup is “unacceptable,” putting nearly all risk on small travel businesses while airlines walk away.

The European Union is currently reviewing air passenger rights legislation, and ECTAA is lobbying for changes to prevent a repeat of the Air Belgium debacle.

Air Belgium operated from Brussels South Charleroi Airport and even had routes to Newark at one point, but was never able to sustain profitability amid fierce competition, pandemic disruption, and operational missteps. Unfortunately for the airline and Belgium itself, it seems that Air Belgium’s most consistent flight was the one toward insolvency.

FMI: www.airbelgium.com