Bad things seem to happen in threes. Primera Air went out of business a couple of weeks ago, Cobalt Air went out of business yesterday, and it looks like we may now see a third European airline go out of business. Air Belgium is the Charleroi-based airline that began flying between Charleroi and Hong Kong…
Continue reading: Report: Air Belgium On The Brink Of Liquidation
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Sadly, you will probably never see that money...or after liquidation and some settlements paid out to others (and attorney fees) maybe two cents on the dollar.
Ben, peaking of refunds, do you know what ever happened to the BA Fuel Surcharge Class Action? I opted for a refund and it said my amount was like $1300.00. The site gives no information that I can dissect and have heard nothing since this thing was supposedly completed during the summer
I wonder how this will impact BA passengers to Dubai? BA has wetleased AB planes...
I'm just happy I got to see Air Belgium before it disappears and I love that livery. Still it looks really wierd an Air Belgium A340 at Heathrow Terminal 5.
Oh, and I can't believe giving free flights to all those teenage HK bloggers to show off the business class service didn't result in a huge passenger increase!
In all seriousness, you do need to get on top of that refund and actively file a charge-back with the credit card company. I once got stung getting a ticket 8 months out that the credit card refused to refund because my claim was more than 6 months from purchase.
I enjoyed the trip because the comfort in it was amazing and if someone asked me i will surely suggest them to just go once with it and have the best experience!!
@Stuart - it could still be a while before you see any money from BA. The final approval process and any appeals can take a long time. Payments are scheduled only after the settlement is truly final (meaning no further appeals are possible).
your refund is long gone. join the line of creditors. which you are now at the very very bottom of.
Is Air Belgium the airline that flies directly from Brussels to Kigali? I am planning to go to Rwanda next year and considered that flight. Is it not safe to book now?
JJJ - I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess they're called Air Belgium because they're an AIRline based in BELGIUM.
Oh my God I am shocked. Who saw this coming? I would have expected their business model to thrive
Cobalt had Chinese money behind it and I believe that Air Belgium had Chinese money also .
What does this tell me ?
1. No experience by Chinese investors in running airlines in Europe ( just invest for profit ????)
2. Clamp down by China Government Authorities (State Administration for Exchange Control known as SAFE ) on the shareholders sending more money from China to keep airlines going . (What do they know that we do not ???)
3, ""Running an airline '' is the reason for sending money out of China , but has anyone audited the airlines accounts to check where all the shareholders capital went ? Was it spent on running the airline or hived off into subsidiary companies bank accounts, to await calm and then be used by shareholders for other purposes ?
4. Money laundering has been mentioned by readers here in the past , now it looks real .
Well, we all saw it coming. Supposedly, that is, apart from the owners....h
They're obviously either idiots or criminals. Or both.
All of the above comments aside, is there anyone on the planet surprised by this?
It's no coincidence that Belgium hosts both the EU and NATO HQs. We know pedophilia is key in managing the controlled delegation of power, and for Belgium it has always been the national sport. You only get promotion if those above you have a hold over you. Did you ever wonder why so few of the current European PMs are married - practically none of them. So this airline project is simply someone's ego going into absurd overdrive. Maybe the Chinese promised loads of traffic and Mr Ego believed them.