British firm Air One International Holdings (AOIH) and Dutch company Peso Aviation Management have received approval from a court in Belgium to take over the cargo business of Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) in a deal worth EUR800,000 euros (USD841,000), the companies announced.

“This positive ruling is not just an important win for Peso and AOIH but also a significant milestone for Air Belgium’s cargo division and its dedicated employees. Together, we now have an opportunity to preserve jobs, strengthen Belgium’s aviation landscape, and build a future-ready cargo operation that benefits customers, our employees, and communities alike. This marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for everyone involved,” the statement said.

The two companies are planning on creating a new enterprise to complete the purchase. The new firm will be called Air One Belgium, and 51% of it will be owned by cargo industry veteran Peter Scholten from Peso Aviation Management while 49% will be owned by AOIH, a company linked to UK cargo operator One Air (HC, London Heathrow). Besides being managing director at Peso, Scholten is also chief commercial officer at AOIH-owned Air One Aviation as well as managing director at PAS Aviation Logistics.

AOIH is owned by one Guneet Mirchandani, an Indian national residing in England. Mirchandani is also a minority shareholder at One Air, together with the carrier's chairman and CEO Paul Bennett.

The announced price tag reportedly does not include Air Belgium's aircraft, which are leased. According to ch-aviation fleets data, Air Belgium has two A330-200(P2F) aircraft in its fleet owned by Altavair and two B747-8Fs owned by its former shareholder Hongyuan Group. It previously operated a A330-200 from Altavair, destined to go to Air Serbia. It also operated two A330-900Ns that were meant to go to Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras before the Brazilian carrier gave up on the transaction in favour of new aircraft.

According to the buyer's plans, two additional B747 freighters will be added to Air Belgium’s fleet, but no specification was given on where the aircraft will come from. ch-aviation did not immediately received a comment from Air One on this matter. Besides One Air, AOIH is also affiliated with Aerotranscargo (F5, Chisinau International) and ROMCargo (NJ, Bucharest Henri Coanda).

All three airlines already exclusively operate B747 freighters. The ch-aviation fleets module shows One Air's fleet includes two B747-400(BDSF)s and one B747-400ERF; ROMCargo's - one B747-400(BCF) and one B747-400(BDSF); and Aerotranscargo's - two B747-400(BCF)s, three B747-400(BDSF)s, and one B747-400FSCD.

As ch-aviation previously reported, Air One International Holdings plans to open an additional base in Brussels with the Air Belgium purchase. However, since the deal includes only the cargo business, significant job cuts are expected at Air Belgium.