Cargo B bust ?

[MaxBlow]

Why are all Cargo B flights cancelled ? Without jumping to conclusions it looks like another one bites the dust.

Any info ?

[thrax]

They ferried LGG-AMS today under a/c registration. Seems abit strange.

[747Comet]

If they have gone it is well over due. They have been fighting to stay afloat for a long time. Time will tell:confused:

[gtf]

Don't have any special insider info but within the past 7 days, Cargo B has announced:
-Two new destinations in Africa (JRO, EBB);
-Revamp of the JNB schedule;
-MRO (A + line) with AF/KLM.
The ferry might be for mx as A-checks are to be done in AMS.

Or they lost their funding overnight...

[quickturnaround]

They just traded LGG for BRU, that can not have been a move just for fun. Ferry flights to AMS are common since there is a big MRO outfit there specialised in 744 checks.
Let them fly...........

[747Comet]

Sure understand the mx checks that are done in AMS but why would they operate under an aircraft reg and not a callsign.

Seems very strange.:confused:

Also latest reports are both 744's are in AMS can any one confirm?

[thrax]

I hear both aircraft are in AMS. Also I hear they have cancelled flights. Seems very poor planning by the engineers.

[747guru]

There is a crew meeting tommorrow, and all crews currently in outstations are being flown back commercially to belgium.The rumour in BRU is that the Japanese have withdrawn their financial support for cargo b......has anyone heard the same?

[JamesA]

BB is still sitting in EBLG. Haven't seen a Cargo B -400 there.

They probably got out of Brussels before the noise restrictions took hold. Space at Liege will probably be at a premium soon. Book now to avoid disappointment.

[Exup]

Aswell as noise restrictions the fact that LGG is open 24hrs a day /7 days a week would be a major incentive to go there for a freight outfit.

[747Comet]

The move from BRU was not an operational decision. Cargo B was promised support from the local government if they relocated their operations to LGG.

BB is a 742F that has been stored there for months.

If the Japanese who im guessing is NCA have pulled out this is a big problem as they own the two 744f in use by Cargo B at the moment

[euroflyer]

I don't think they are operating fully out of EBLG yet, saw a cargo b 744f only last week in EBBR.
An urgent meeting is never good news..

[744rules]

Don't know if it's a sign on the wall, but a few weeks ago, a flight was delayed for over 2 hours until the fuel bill was paid.

[africanut]

I'm afraid it wont come as much of a shock to those of us in the industry. these guys have been doing the africa circuit half empty for the last few weeks........

[Tediek]

One ac is parked at the cargo ramp at eham and one is in a hanger for an A check.

[charter man]

My post from 8th July 2008

"Sad to say, but full of freight does not mean that the flights are making money. There are lots of operators of both freighters and passenger aircraft in the world at the moment who are flying flat out full, but losing money. Unfortunately airline managers either choose to ignore this fact or hope that there are better times around the corner.
Scottie from Star Trek famously said "ye canna change the laws of physics"
I say " ye canna change the laws of economics"

Seems that once again people have ignored the inevitable....:ugh:

[Acid-drop]

Cargo B is currently using BRU as hub.
They should move to LGG very soon, it was planned for July.
Here is the press release :
http://www.liegeairport.com/documents/09-05-12PressFileANG.pdf

Liège airport is open 24/7, cheaper, no slots, lots of expension possible, very good highways, no congestion. It is more and more attractive for full cargo companies.

OO-CBB is still parked in LGG now, but this one is a -200, never flying.
Hopefully the story is not over for the 2 others !

[thrax]

Why ferry an a/c for A check, is this not normally done on the line. Does not look so hot Cargo B

[Flightmech]

A checks not normally done on the line on a -400. Normally at a 600-700FH interval depending on the operators approved maintenance programme.

[12buynow]

Charter man,

Explain us a bit what you mean with this.

[Bralo20]

At this moment the BRU website is showing the BB flight as cancelled.

Both B744F's (OO-CBC & OO-CBD) are currently at AMS.

OO-CBA is still standing at BRU as a wreck and OO-CBB is still in LGG and hasn't moved since it arrived there.

[ScootCargoOps]

The flights into Africa are not making the revenue they once were. I think CargoB expected to make reasonable revenues in both directions. Revenue has dropped by about 50% south bound compared to when they first were flying these routes. Even IATA stats show drops in overall tonnage and with no one cutting capacity the market is just going to bottom out.

Not nice times!

[747guru]

Brussels airport website shows the cargo b jo'burg departure being cancelled this morning? Unless it is planned to leave LGG instead?

[Bralo20]

Both B744F's are still in AMS and are not scheduled to leave... All flights are cancelled until further notice.

There should be a meeting today with Cargo B staff if rumours are correct so there will be some news this evening I think. But I doubt if it will be good news...

[Bralo20]

Some news in the financial newspaper "De Tijd": De Tijd: Mayday voor Cargo B Airlines (http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/ondernemingen_diensten/Mayday_voor_Cargo_B_Airlines.8203527-431.art) (only dutch)
Quick Translation:
Mayday for Cargo B Airlines:
Belgian airfreight carrier Cargo B Airlines is strugling to stay alive but the chance is great that all activities will be suspended unless a new investor will be found. This noon, at 13h00, there will be a board meeting to discuss the future (or faillure) of Cargo B. The capital of 27 million EUR is completely used.
All personell, based in Africa and South America were recalled to Belgium for a meeting with the pilots yesterday. A crucial boardmeeting, which would be held this morning is suspended to this noon.
Is Cargo B forced to stop activities asked the newspaper to the president Rob Kuijpers, the man who also founded the airline. I just don't know was the reaction of the president... Cargo B is flying with 2 brand new Boeing 747-400F freighters and is employing more then 50 people, most of then pilots.
Both airplanes are in Amsterdam for maintenance says Dirk Vrebos, Director Operations. The scheduled flights for today are cancelled but yesterday Vrebos told us that this weekend flights would continue. Invoices for flighthandler Aviapartner are paid untill next monday. However, the last invoice for fuel was paid by the NYK group, one of Cargo B shareholders.
Cargo B started operations in the end of 2007 with a very decent businessplan but the carier had to deal with some problems like the delayed deliveries of the new airplanes, the delay of the AOC and the sudden impact of the crisis in the sector. Cargo B was funded through PMV (a group of 50 investors from Petercam Services), QAT II Investments and QAT Arkiv with a fund of 20 million EUR. Last year a new shareholder, the NYK holding, which also operates in the port of Zeebrugge and also owner of Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA), funded another 7 million EUR into Cargo B Airlines.

Source: De Tijd

[euroflyer]

Board meeting was planned this morning but now pushed back to this afternoon.
Article in local flemish newspaper this morning states they are fighting for survival and that their is nothing left of the 27million capital.
Unless they find a new investor there is little chance they can continue to operate. 50 people could be affected.

[youneverknow]

just as food for thought. biz plan of cargo b was made on the assumption that MK stays in administration and that cargo b takes over the mk africa biz. mk went out of administration on monday and what happend on monday .....

[747guru]

Just heard that CB have decided to close the doors, I guess wherever maxblow got his info, it was pretty accurate?

Just happy I was not an investor....Euro 27m is hard to swallow!

RIP CargoB

[euroflyer]

Found on another site:


Dear Business Partner,



We deeply regret that we have to advise you that the Board of Cargo B Airlines had to take the difficult decision today to stop its operation with immediate effect.

Thanks to support from our clients and the hard team work of your and our staff and all partners we have been able to stay on target as far as the load factors but the yields as a result of the market situation were lower than required and this had a big impact on our revenue and cash position.

The present economical climate with no improvements foreseen in the near future and the strong competition resulting in sometimes very low rates mean we cannot expect major improvements on the short term.

Cargo B has been doing its utmost in the past few months and as recent as last week to find the interest of new investors to increase the required capital but we have not been able to find sufficient funds and parties to warrant a continuation of the operation.

We are very grateful for all your support and the confidence given to us from the start of the flights in October 2007 and our sincere apologies for any inconveniences caused as a result of our decision.

In the next days we will come with the procedures to follow in relation to the outstanding invoices and how to proceed.

Kind regards



The Cargo B Management

[Bralo20]

Yep, it is confirmed...

Cargo B will stop all activities and will stop flying.

But... Cargo B will not file for bankruptcy. This can mean 2 things. Either they have sufficient cash to pay everyone and close down the business on a normal way.

It can also mean that they are leaving the door open to continue activities in the far future by leaving the company (virtually) active. Since they have all necessary documents it could mean they can resume activities very quick when the time is ripe...

Anyway, it's a bad day for all employees and Belgian aviation... :(

[Bralo20]

Some part of the "De Tijd", a Belgian financial newspaper:


Cargo B is stopping their activities...


Belgian carrier Cargo B Airlines will stop their activities. The funds of 24 million EUR has been used and the founders of the airline haven't found any fresh cash to remain flying.

"We have decided to stop our activities" told president Rob Kuijers after the board meeting helt this noon. The reason is "Because there is no money left to remain flying". The flight of tommorow, thursday, has been cancelled including all other flights. KBC, the only bank of the company would not loan additional funds. Cargo B had a creditline of 5 million EUR with this bank.

Cargo B started operations in the end of 2007 with a very decent businessplan but the carier had to deal with some problems like the delayed deliveries of the new airplanes, the delay of the AOC and the sudden impact of the crisis in the sector. In the first fase 20 million EUR was raised through investors PMV (a group of 50 investors of Petercam Services), QAT II Investments & QAT Arkiv.

Last year additional funds where brought in for the amount of 4 million EUR (PMV & Petercam), also Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA), daughter of the Japanese transportgroup NYK funded 3 million EUR.

It is unclear how things will continue. Cargo B Airlines has about 40 pilots and 20 administrative employees in service. No decission has been made to file for bankruptcy told Kuijpers.


Source: De Tijd (Belgian Financial Newspaper)

[MaxBlow]

playmobileshoes,

is it so hard to put 2 + 2 together? A shame that your employees are the last ones to find out after everybody else in the industry with a little common sense already knew.

I bet you can go back flying your old playmobile airplane again.

Best of luck to all others finding a new job.

[747guru]

Will there be a financial investigation by the flemish govt into the failure, I understand they had invested a lot of money in cargo b?

[Freight Expectations]

Reported by Air Cargo News

Air Cargo News :: The World's Best Read Air Cargo Newspaper (http://aircargonews.net/air_cargo_news_home.aspx)

[747guru]

There are some interesting comments on the belgian aviation website www.luchtzak.be (http://www.luchtzak.be) concerning the demise of cargo b.

There is mention of it costing Euro 12m to move the operation to LGG from BRU, even though the office and staff remain in BRU......seems like an incredible price to pay for a company already in dire financial trouble....belgian politics again I guess?

[Tediek]

OO-CBA is still standing at BRU as a wreck and OO-CBB is still in LGG and hasn't moved since it arrived there.

was the ac never fixed after the tailstrike?

[744rules]

There were some repairs done, but they also removed 2 engines and the nose-cone.
Some say it's property of the insurance company, the cockpit was promised to the firebrigade ,........ others say it will be repaired to fly again.

In short, the 2 brand new a/c are in AMS, the crap remains in BRU (oocba) and LGG (oocbb)

[klipper11]

Does anyone know what is going to happen with OO-CBB? or who the owner/lessor is?

[BrowntailWhale]

Maybe they can start back up as Cargo C?

[USav8or]

Hey browntailwhale - I doubt your "location" is SDF - don't you mean ANC? ;)

Sorry about the thread drift... :)

[helldog]

Just goes to show that it is bloody difficult to break into any aviation market against long established operators. So many try and so many fail. Then at the end of the day its tha same old names burning holes in the air.

I feel for the eployees, but hey at least the pilots will have no problem finding work with a 744 TR at the moment...... good luck with it.

[Peppermint Hippo]

A shame. A decent outfit, very decent !!

[Broomstick Flier]

I have it from good source that both 400s were ferried back to Japan, on return to Nippon Cargo, about a week ago.

Sad see them going, "met" them twice on the pattern

[Trainspotter]

Check your authority...both were still parked at Schipol yesterday afternoon!:ok:

[Fr8Dog]

"I have it from good source that both 400s were ferried back to Japan, on return to Nippon Cargo, about a week ago".


RCPilot2 tells us that all of the head guys from Atlas Air were at his house for a BB-Q on the 4th of July and told him that Atlas was going to get those two 400's.


FR8

[STN Ramp Rat]

your good source is not that good, OO-CBD was seen in Amsterdam yesterday

[AAA737300BF]

FT090702 (http://www.aircargonews.com/090710/FT090702.html) Link to Air Cargo News article:

Cargo B Bites The Dust

http://www.aircargonews.com/FT09/CargoB070209.jpg Belgian air freight carrier Cargo B has ceased all operations this Wednesday due to lack of capital.
A high-ranking manager of the carrier’s general sales agent European Cargo Services (ECS) confirmed this to ACNFT.
The insolvency became unavoidable after minority stakeholder Japanese Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) rejected plans for an immediate capital injection to channel badly needed cash into Cargo B’s empty coffers.
“Obviously they were so short of money that they couldn’t pay their bills any more and consequently had to stop their entire activities,” commented a person close to the case.
Cargo B is the latest victim of the ongoing financial and economic crisis after a number of North American and Asian air freight carriers went broke before.
The Brussels-based airline first took to the skies in October 2007 with B747-200F’s that had been utilized by Russian Air Bridge Cargo. Confronted with high rising fuel prices Brussels B got rid of the old and kerosene consuming equipment to lease a modern B747-400F from Japanese NCA.
A second brand new freighter of this Boeing variant followed in mid-May this year.
Both aircraft were deployed on a number of routes between Belgium and Latin America and Africa.
In addition to scheduled services, Cargo B also offered full- and part-charters.
At Munich-held Transport Logistik exhibition the airline revealed plans to move operations from Brussels to Liege Airport due to night flight restrictions at their home-base, Zaventem Airport. These plans can be buried now unless the management attracts new investors out that are willing to inject substantial funds in the airline to guarantee Brussel B’s survival.
Heiner Siegmund

[747guru]

As the company have filed for bankruptcy, does anyone know if the crews were paid their salaries in the final days?

[MaxBlow]

Well informed sources are telling me that people are having problems getting their money.

I bet some managers will walk away with their pockets full of money :D and will start new jobs soon (who do they screw next).

You'll see:yuk:

[IFIX]

Both the 747's at Amsterdam now sporting an N-registration..

[WhaleDriver]

Do you remember the last to letters on the N registration?

[IFIX]

No, I will check upcoming weekend.
I'm currently off for a few days.

[Po Boy]

please let it be MC :ok:

[superspotter]

OO-CBD is now wearing N385NY.

[Po Boy]

NY, who might that be?

[Tank2Engine]

please let it be MC :ok:I wouldn't get my hopes up. They'll probably be parked next to their two brothers and sisters (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled-(Japan-Airlines/Boeing-767-346/1556206/L/) in Victorville. :sad:

[superspotter]

OO-CBC is now wearing N384NC.

[Tediek]

one of them (last one parked at EHAM) was towed at EHAM yesterday, not sure to get it ready for departure, was difficult to see.

[Fr8Dog]

N-number : N384NC & N385NY
Aircraft Serial Number : 36784 & 36785
Aircraft Manufacturer : BOEING
Model : 747-4KZF
Aircraft Year :
Owner Name : MSN36784 TRUST
Owner Address : ATTN: CORPORATE TRUST ADMIN
: 1100 NORTH MARKET STREET
WILMINGTON, DE, 19890-1605
Type of Owner : Corporation
Registration Date : 06-Jul-2009
Airworthiness Certificate Type : Not Specified

[Charlie_Fox]

Both ferrying to Victorville, Ca for storage

[MaxBlow]

Two (by now) well know ex-managers from Cargob in Belgium and Luxembourg also did not pay any of the benefits, tax and/or bonuses for all flight crew :=
Well, someone has to pay for the new big house :D

playmobilshoes,
you stopped defending them. Why ? Do they owe you some money too ?:}

[747guru]

In response to maxblow, there are strong rumours from two seperate sources now out of LUX that the crewing company cargo b services who provided the pilots for cargo b airlines have not paid ANY money to the LUX social department:bored: Not sure how this will affect the benefit claims of the unemployed pilots, but I would say that a criminal investigation cannot be far away?

[Tank2Engine]

Both ferrying to Victorville, Ca for storageJoining the family, as I said earlier. :sad:

[MaxBlow]

Playmobilshoes,

Riccardo G, thanks for the advise - good luck for your job search.
Have to go flying now...:}