Belair (airline)

Belair Airlines
IATA code :	4T
ICAO code :	BHP
Call sign :	BELAIR
Founding:	2001
Operation stopped:	2017
Seat:	Opfikon , Switzerland
Home airport :	airport Zurich
Company form:	Corporation
Management:	Michael Hövel ( CEO )
Fleet size:	4th
Aims:	international
Website:	www.flybelair.com
Belair Airlines ceased operations in 2017. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Belair Airlines was a Swiss airline that emerged from Balair and was based in Opfikon and based at Zurich Airport . It was a subsidiary of Air Berlin PLC and operated under its brand. With the bankruptcy of Air Berlin, Belair ceased its flight operations, as did Air Berlin on October 27, 2017.

history

founding

A Belair Boeing 757-200 in early 2007

A Belair Boeing in the newer version of the livery in mid-2007

With the end of Swissair in autumn 2001, the end of the charter company Balair was heralded. The last Balair flight landed in Zurich on October 5, 2001. The travel group Hotelplan founded the charter airline Belair Airlines on October 16, 2001 . The two Balair Boeing 757s that belonged to Hotelplan were relocated to the new airline. Because of the only minor name change, both aircraft were temporarily repainted with little effort and 120 employees were taken over by Balair.

On November 3, 2001, the planes took off on Belair's first commercial flight. The flights of the two machines flew mainly to seaside resorts on the Mediterranean and North Africa . In addition to the two Boeing 757-200s ( HB-IHR and HB-IHS ), another Boeing 767-300ER ( HB-ISE ) was leased for long-haul routes. In addition to the holiday flights, the Belair-767 were used several times to repatriate travelers from crisis areas, after natural disasters or attacks. In cooperation with Rega , the Boeing 757 HB-IHR was redesigned so that it could be used as a rescue aircraft. Belair thus formed a partnership with Rega in the field of international repatriation .

Takeover by Air Berlin

An earlier Belair Boeing 767-300ER in a modified Air Berlin livery

A strategic partnership had existed with Air Berlin since November 1, 2007 , in which Air Berlin gradually acquired a stake of up to 49 percent in the company until 2009. Air Berlin increased its presence in Switzerland and Hotelplan customers had a wider range of flights available. Therefore, the Boeing 757s were repainted in the Air Berlin colors and integrated into their fleet. Air Berlin has had full control over Belair since October 2009. The Boeing 757-200ER and the Boeing 767-300ER were retired by November 2009. Since then, Belair no longer exists as a brand and only serves as a company name. All flights are operated under the Air Berlin brand. The corps of the former Air Berlin Switzerland (Air Berlin pilots), CHS Switzerland (Air Berlin flight attendants) and Belair were merged into Belair Airlines AG on January 1, 2010. Many flight attendants left the company after the long haul was discontinued.

On January 13, 2017, the company initially confirmed that it would cease operations at the end of March 2017 as part of the Air Berlin restructuring, and at the beginning of March it was announced that operations would initially be maintained until October 31, 2017. In the course of this, the fleet was to be replaced by four Airbus A321-200s from Air Berlin, which should finally initiate the cessation of operations of Belair with the planned transfer to Niki in winter 2017/18. After Air Berlin went bankrupt in August 2017, there was talk of an investor who wanted to transform Belair into Balair again. But this would have happened anyway without planes, since Belair did not own any planes.

After Air Berlin ceased operations on October 27, 2017, Belair also ceased operations; the liquidation of the company was initiated. The planned sale of the company was canceled by Air Berlin due to concerns about its own bankruptcy and the associated, threatened bankruptcy of Belair. The four machines still in operation at this time will be transferred to the Niki Luftfahrt fleet.

Due to the complexity of the bankruptcy, no takeover by an investor was initially possible. On January 15, 2018, the holding company SBC announced that it would take over Belair. On January 15, 2018, the holding company sbc AG from Düsseldorf, Germany, took over the Swiss Belair Airlines from the insolvency of Air Berlin. In mid-August 2018, however, the final bankruptcy was declared and a restart of the airline was canceled.

Destinations

On behalf of Air Berlin, Belair flew to various destinations within its route network from Zurich and Basel. The main goals were holiday destinations around the Mediterranean Sea as well as in Egypt and the Canary Islands . Flights within the EU were carried out with a flight number of Air Berlin ( AB ), flights outside the EU were carried out with a 4T flight number of Belair.

fleet

An Airbus A319-100 from Belair in the Air Berlin brand identity, recognizable by its Swiss registration number

When operations were shut down towards the end of October 2017, the Belair fleet operated by Air Berlin and Niki consisted of four aircraft:

Aircraft type	active	ordered	Remarks	Seats	Average age
Airbus A320-200	1	-	operated for Air Berlin	180	7.7 years
Airbus A321-200	3	-	operated for Niki	212	2.5 years
total	4th				3.8 years

See also

• Former Airlines List (Europe)

Web links

Commons : Balair  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Belair website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hotel plan: Air Berlin expands engagement in Switzerland: New shareholder structure for Belair & expansion of the fleet and new routes from Switzerland , press release of October 29, 2009 with explanation of the holding structure via a foundation
2. ↑ Stefan Eiselin: Daughter of Air Berlin: It's definitely over at Belair. In: aeroTELEGRAPH. January 15, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Switzerland's Belair granted six-month lifeline. In: ch-aviation. ch-aviation GmbH, March 6, 2017, accessed on March 6, 2017 (English). 
4. ↑ Stefan Eiselin: Belair should become Balair. In: Basler Zeitung. National Zeitung and Basler Nachrichten AG, October 20, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Jan Gruber: Belair from October 29, 2017 without aircraft. In: Austrian Aviation Net. Cubo Media GmbH, October 25, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Air Berlin calls off Belair sale, carrier to be liquidated. In: ch-aviation. ch-aviation GmbH, October 27, 2017, accessed on October 28, 2017 (English). 
7. ↑ Belair is taken over by the German holding company SBC. January 15, 2018, accessed January 16, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Belair is broke. AeroTelegraph, August 15, 2018.
9. ↑ ch-aviation - Belair Airlines (English), accessed on October 28, 2017