ASL Airlines Belgium
ASL Airlines Belgium | |
---|---|
IATA code : | 3V |
ICAO code : | TAY |
Call sign : | QUALITY |
Founding: | 1999 (as TNT Airways) |
Seat: | Liege , Belgium |
Home airport : | Liege Airport |
Company form: | SA |
IATA prefix code : | 756 |
Management: | Sam Glöckner ( CEO ) |
Number of employees: | 400 (2005) |
Fleet size: | 32 |
Aims: | international |
Website: | www.aslairlines.be |
ASL Airlines Belgium (formerly TNT Airways ) is a Belgian cargo airline based in Liège and a subsidiary of the ASL Aviation Group .
history
Foundation and first years
TNT Airways was founded on July 20, 1999 as a separate cargo airline to handle air transport for the TNT Express division. Before TNT Airways operated its own cargo planes , other cargo airlines operated wet leases for TNT. Even today, cargo planes from other airlines are used in the wet lease process. TNT Airways was the only western airline to use the Tupolev Tu-204 . However, TNT Airways' most profitable main routes are served by its own aircraft.
In October 1999 TNT Airways acquired the Belgian Air Transport License (AOC). A BAe 146-300QT was certified in Belgium in January 2000 as the first own cargo aircraft . When TNT Airways received its operating license as a cargo airline in February 2000, it initially used the BAe 146-300QT between Liège and Vienna . In July 2000, she started cargo service between Liège and Edinburgh with her first Airbus A300B4-200F .
In August 2000 TNT Airways became a full member of IATA . As early as October 2001 she flew to seven destinations in Africa with a Boeing 747-400F . In November 2001 she carried out liner services for KLM Cargo . Another important step in expanding the TNT route network beyond Europe was the US approval for flights between the USA and Belgium and within the USA in February 2002 .
TNT Airways operated weekly services to Hong Kong on a Boeing 747-400F under license from Emirates in September 2002 . In the following month, TNT Airways signed a code-share agreement with China Southern Airlines for daily flights with 747 freighters between Liege, Shanghai and Shenzhen .
In February 2003, TNT acquired two Boeing 737-300SFs , with which they began route services from Liège to Madrid and Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain in July 2003 .
Around 38 million euros were invested at the home airport in Liège to expand the company's own freight center and build the company's largest hub . At the end of July 2011, TNT received the first of three Boeing 777Fs on order .
Entry into the passenger business
Since April 2002 TNT Airways has been able to handle passenger handling at its home airport in Liège. Occasionally TNT Airways also operates passenger flights itself . For this purpose, she acquired the passenger transport license in March 2004. In the same month she operated charter flights for Club Med to various holiday destinations in the Mediterranean . At the same time, it bought five Boeing 737-300s, two of which were in the Quick Change Version (QC) so that they could also be used in cargo air traffic.
Announced acquisition by ASL Aviation Group
The takeover of TNT Airways and PAN Air Líneas Aéreas , a subsidiary of TNT Express Spain, by the Irish ASL Aviation Group was announced for mid-2016, which , as a major contractor for the US courier and logistics company FedEx, also received the previous major orders from TNT Express to TNT Airways. As part of the takeover of TNT by FedEx, which has now been approved under competition law, TNT had to sell TNT Airways before the transaction was concluded, as the ownership of voting rights in EU airlines by non-Europeans is restricted.
Destinations
ASL Airlines Belgium mainly operates cargo flights worldwide from Liège Airport, with a focus on Europe .
There are daily flights to Erfurt-Weimar Airport , which is used as a transshipment point for TNT.
fleet
As of June 2020, the ASL Airlines Belgium fleet consists of 32 cargo aircraft with an average age of 23.6 years:
Aircraft type | number | ordered | Remarks | Average age |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boeing 737-400F | 24 | 9 operated for FedEx , two inactive | 24.5 years | |
Boeing 737-800BCF | 3 | equipped with winglets , one inactive | 19.2 years | |
Boeing 747-400ERF | 3 | 17.4 years | ||
Boeing 757-200PF | 2 | 1 with winglets provided | 29.1 years | |
total | 32 | - | 23.6 years |
See also
Web links
- Website of the ASL Airlines Belgium (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ airliners.de - TNT receives its first Boeing 777F
- ↑ aerotelegraph.com - A new air freight giant is emerging in Europe, accessed on February 6, 2016
- ↑ Wirtschaftswoche - FedEx deal approved: US parcel service allowed to take over TNT Express, January 8, 2016
- ^ ASL Airlines Belgium Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. May 17, 2020, accessed on May 17, 2020 .