The airline Air Belgium has confirmed the acquisition of two Airbus A330-900s, which will initially be deployed on the new route between Brussels and Mauritius. StarFlyer in Japan will lease six A320neos, while Royal Brunei Airlines will convert one for freight transport.
As announced in mid-June, the Air Belgium fleet will be enriched with two new A330neo leased from ALC, which will gradually replace two A340-300s. Their Airspace cabins will be configured to accommodate 286 passengers in three classes (Business, Premium and Economy), compared to 265 for current quadjets.
From October 15, 2021, the two new rotations of the Belgian company between Bruxelles-Zaventem and Port-Louis-Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam airport will be operated by A330-900, and not by A340-300 as initially planned for the launch December 15, 2020. Departures remain scheduled Tuesday and Friday at 9.40 p.m. to arrive the next day at 11.30 a.m., return flights leaving Mauritius on Wednesday and Saturday at 9 p.m. to land the next day at 7.20 a.m. (from November, departures at 6.30 p.m. and returns at 11:20 am).
Air Belgium remains without competition on this route, which will be added to the lines relaunched on July 2 between Charleroi and Martinique and Guadeloupe; tomorrow, it will inaugurate a new destination, Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles, operated on Wednesdays and Saturdays in continuation of flights to Fort-de-France.
“Air Belgium is very happy and proud to be able to present these new aircraft in Belgium. These are the most modern aircraft that will operate under the Belgian flag. We are delighted with our operation of the Airbus A340s which demonstrate their reliability, comfort and performance. With the A330neos, customers will benefit from even greater comfort and on-board service, while reducing our environmental footprint by a quarter, “Niky Terzakis, CEO of Air Belgium, said in a statement.
“We are delighted to see that Air Belgium recognizes the advantages of the A330neo in terms of productivity and flexibility, which make it the best in class and the most profitable for the airline’s long-haul network. With a maximum range of 8,150 nautical miles and a 25% reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to previous generation aircraft, the A330neo is the ideal tool to get airlines out of the sky. the crisis and meet the demand of passengers eager to get back on the plane. This is why the A330 family aircraft – the most popular widebody in the world with 1,500 A330s delivered – were the most used long-haul aircraft during the pandemic ”, added Christian Scherer, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International, Airbus.
