Back in December, it became known that Air Belgium would launch operations of a Boeing 747-8F freighter in 2022, giving another life to an aircraft that had been grounded for years.
Such a project is underway, now with the support of China’s Hongyuan Group. The first photos of the aircraft were released yesterday and, in them, the business group’s name can be seen all over the fuselage. The company’s logo is discreetly painted on the tail.
Hongyuan Group, based in the Beijing Capital Airport Economic Zone, will take 7.7% of Air Belgium’s shares held by Hong Kong-based Aviation Investment Holding and plans to bring fresh capital into the company to 49% of the shares. The remaining 51% would remain in the hands of the current Belgian shareholders and the company could thus maintain its European status.
Hongyuan Group is a Chinese provider of integrated foreign trade services. In 2020, they chose Brussels Airport as a strategic location to have their new European headquarters, where they built an 8,000 m² warehouse.
In last October, Hongyuan and Brussels Airport signed a Memorandum of Understanding as strategic partners to further develop the location as an important entry point for general cargo and the development of e-commerce streams between China and Europe, on the one hand, and between Europe, America, and Africa, on the other hand.
As reported by our partner Aeroin, Hongyuan already operates flights from China to Brussels, as well as to Liège, where it has a 14,000 m² warehouse.
Two Boeing 747-8Fs that belonged to Saudia (registration numbers HZ-AI3 and HZ-AI4) and remained inactive for years, were leased to Aircraft Finance Germany and are now integrated into Air Belgium’s fleet to fly on behalf of the Hongyuan Group. The first of them has already obtained the new Belgian OO-ABI registration.
