Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) has confirmed that French maritime group CMA CGM submitted a takeover bid for the airline to its court-appointed administrator on March 19. The Walloon Brabant Business Court will review the new bid during a scheduled hearing on March 27, the airline said in a statement.
CMA CGM is one of the world's largest shipping and logistics companies. It is 73% owned by chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé, a Franco-Lebanese businessman, and his family through Merit France SAS. Turkish family-owned company Yildirim Holding has a 24% stake, and the French public sector investment bank Bpifrance holds 3%. The holding already owns a cargo airline, CMA CGM Air Cargo, with a fleet of two B777-200Fs (and a third one placed under a CMI deal with Atlas Air) and one A330-200F.
Before it obtained its own certificate in 2022, CMA CGM placed four A330-200Fs under a CMI deal with Air Belgium. The holding company also has a cargo joint venture with Air France-KLM, in which it holds an 8.8% stake.
The new bid comes after the court on May 6 rejected a planned takeover of Air Belgium's cargo business by Air One Belgium SA, an entity created by UK firm Air One International Holdings (AOIH) and Dutch company Peso Aviation Management, as the conditions of the transfer agreement could no longer be met in the given timeframe. The court gave Air Belgium's administrator, Bernard Vanham, until March 27 to find an alternative offer that would allow the airline to continue operating.
Air One Belgium CEO and major shareholder Peter Scholten strongly refuted the court's decision and announced his intention to appeal. On March 20, a spokesman for Air One Belgium informed ch-aviation that the appeal process was underway and the company was unlikely to issue further comments until the outcome is known.
The first deal was reportedly cancelled due to issues with fulfilling critical conditions, such as obtaining approval from Belgium's Civil Aviation Authority and securing a guarantee from Air Belgium's main customer, Sichuan Airlines (3U, Chengdu Shuangliu), to continue its contracts.
However, Scholten argued that Air One Belgium was already finalising a lease agreement for two B747 freighters with Sichuan International Air Cargo Development and was submitting the necessary regulatory approvals to the Belgian authorities. However, some delays occurred due to holiday periods.
Air Belgium has been under judicial supervision since September 2023 and transitioned to judicial liquidation in September 2024 due to financial struggles. The airline was given four months to find a buyer for its assets, and the deal with AOIH and Peso Aviation Management was finalised in December 2024.
Air Belgium has focused on cargo and ACMI services since September 2023. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, it operates two A330-200(P2F)s owned by Altavair and two B747-8Fs owned by former shareholder Hongyuan Group.
