Despite the proximity of the Boeing 747 production line’s end, Air Belgium emerged in Europe as a new and unexpected operator of the Jumbo.

The company arose 3 years ago as a specialized passenger charter company that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, also had to re-invent itself as a cargo airline.

As reported by our partner Aeroin, Air Belgium has currently a fleet of three A340-300s for passenger or adapted cargo flights, a brand new A330-900neo passenger aircraft, and 4 A330-200F freighters, operating for the French shipping company CMA CGM.

Air Belgium, though, wants to continue to grow in the air cargo business, and therefore announced the hiring of pilots for the Boeing 747-8F, without specifying how many of them it will operate. The rumors initially point to two units.

The origin of the two Jumbos is not yet confirmed:

It is hard to find this type of aircraft on the market. Saudia Cargo, which had 2 Jumbos of the «abandoned» model, found them a destination in the Russian company Air Bridge Cargo. Nevertheless, there is no information that there are any other such units available on the market, which means that the origin of the Air Belgium aircraft remains a mystery.