Photo by: Air Belgium
Air Belgium announced on Friday that, because of its new interline agreement with Air Mauritius, it is doubling the number of its flights between its home base and Johannesburg. Henceforth, in addition to the two direct flights a week between Brussels and Johannesburg, there will also be two indirect flights, via Mauritius, between the two cities.
This new arrangement will be an all-year, and not merely seasonal, schedule. The direct flights from Johannesburg to Brussels will be flown on Mondays and Thursdays. The flights via Mauritius will be flown on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Passengers will either be able to transit through Mauritius or stopover on the island country. The flights originating in Johannesburg and Mauritius will be operated by Air Belgium Airbus A330neo (A330-900, to be precise) widebody airliners.
“Our collaboration with Air Mauritius opens a new chapter of enhanced service for South African travellers,” highlighted Air Belgium CEO Niky Terzakis. “This, coupled with our existing partnerships with [South African airlines] Airlink and FlyCemair, underscores our dedication to offering diverse and seamless travel experiences to our valued customers.”
The carrier’s pre-existing partnerships with Airlink and FlyCemair give Air Belgium passengers access to comprehensive regional networks. These cover South, Southern and East Africa, as well as offshore islands.
Air Belgium was founded in 2016. It reportedly currently operates an airliner fleet of two Airbus A330-200s and two A330-900s, plus five dedicated freighter aircraft – one A330-200F, one A330-200P2F (this suffix indicating that it was converted from an airliner), and three Boeing 747-8F. Four of the freighters (the A330-200P2F and the 747-8Fs) are operated on behalf of the Hongyuan Group.
Despite its name, Air Belgium is not that country’s national flag carrier. That honour is vested in Brussels Airlines, which replaced previous flag carrier Sabena after the latter’s bankruptcy in 2001.