Mystery Hong Kong investors bet on low-cost start-up carrier Air Belgium
Ambitious airline will launch a budget long-haul service from Brussels to tap into soaring appetite for flights to, from and within China. Its first destination will be Hong Kong
A mystery group of Hong Kong investors is backing a new long-haul budget carrier, betting on the rise of low-cost travel despite the wafer-thin margins of the airline industry.
Air Belgium chief executive Niky Terzakis gave little away about his Hong Kong backers, who control a 49 per cent stake, saying only that they were not “airline people”.
“Everyone keeps focusing on [their identities]”, he complained. He added that details of the investors would be in the “public record very soon” and the majority shareholding was “in Belgium and Europe”.
The ambitious start-up, which has not sold a single air ticket yet, aims to launch its first flights this month – from Brussels to Hong Kong – given the soaring appetite for flights to, from and within China, which is on course to surpass the United States as the largest aviation market by 2022.
In an exclusive interview, Terzakis, the former boss at cargo airline TNT Airways, was cautious about success. “It’s no secret, operating an airline in Europe is a complicated thing. Usually it’s airlines that need the money,” he said.
