CityBird S.A. was estabilished in August 1996 and was based in Building 117D, Melsbroek Air Base in Zaventem.[1] Flight operations to various destinations were started in the month of December. Schedules were launched on March 27 of the following year.
CityBird flew a fleet of twelve aircraft including the Boeing 767-300ER, various Boeing 737 models, the Airbus A300-600R and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. Over 50 European cities were served via Brussels. Citybird employed over 600 employees as of 2001 and was listed at NASDAQ Europe a.k.a. Eastdaq under the ticker symbol CBIR (CityBird holding SA) in November 1997. Though they had bought their first MD-11 in December 1996, they did not begin operations until March 1997.
Aircraft cabins had a “Royal Eagle” business class, “Premium Flamingo” class (not on Newark flights), and “Colibri” economy class. CityBird preferred a “point-to-point” network rather than the “hub and spoke”: all transatlantic flights (from Los Angeles, Newark, Oakland, Miami, Orlando or Mexico City) went to Brussels Airport. All aircraft featured the airline’s tagline, “The Flying Dream.” In July 1999, CityBird began cargo activities using two A300-600 “full freighters.”
However, the scheduled flights did not yield the hoped-for economic results and were discontinued in 2000. The airline stopped all flying in Summer 2001 and filed for bankruptcy on the following October, 4. Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium considered buying them out of bankruptcy, but later pulled out.
Destinations in the western hemisphere
The following destinations in the Western Hemisphere were served by CityBird from Brussels [2]
North America[3]
- Cuba
- Varadero
- Mexico
- Cancún
- Mexico City
- United States
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York City (served via Newark Liberty International Airport)
- Oakland (San Francisco was served via Oakland International Airport)
- Orlando
South America
- Suriname
- Paramaribo
CityBird also served over 50 destinations in Europe from Brussels.
Fleet
CityBird operated the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A300-600RF | 2 | 1999 | 2001 | |
| Boeing 737-300 | 1 | 2000 | 2001 | |
| Boeing 737-400 | 4 | |||
| Boeing 737-800 | 3 | 2001 | 2001 | |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 3 | 1998 | 2001 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-11 | 5 | 1996 | 2001 |
See also
References
- ^ “CityBird Offices.” CityBird. Retrieved on 3 November 1999.
- ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, CityBird system timetable covers
- ^ “Citybird”.
External links
- CityBird (Archive)
- Airlines Remembered
