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| Founded | August 6, 1996 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | October 4, 2001 | ||||||
| Hubs | Brussels Airport | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | CityBird France | ||||||
| Fleet size | 16 | ||||||
| Destinations | +50 | ||||||
| Parent company | CityBird Holding S.A. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Melsbroek Air Base,Zaventem,Belgium | ||||||
| Key people | Victor Hasson (Chairman & CEO) Georges Gutelman | ||||||
| Employees | +600 (2001) | ||||||
| Website | Former website | ||||||
CityBird S.A. was anairline founded in 1996 and based in Building 117D,Melsbroek Air Base inZaventem.[1] The airline filed for bankruptcy in October 2001.Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium considered buying them out of bankruptcy, but later pulled out.
They flew a fleet of twelve aircraft including theBoeing 767-300ER, variousBoeing 737 models, theAirbus A300-600R and theMcDonnell Douglas MD-11. Over 50 European cities were served via Brussels. Citybird employed over 600 employees as of 2001 and was listed atNASDAQ 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.
Their planes offered a "Royal Eagle" business class, "Premium Flamingo" class (not onNewark flights), and "Colibri" economy class. They used the "point-to-point" approach to air travel rather than the "hub and spoke" connecting hub concept wherein all transatlantic flights (fromLos Angeles,Newark,Oakland,Miami,Orlando orMexico City) went toBrussels Airport (BRU) on an airport to airport basis. All aircraft featured the airline's tagline, "The Flying Dream."
In July 1999, CityBird began cargo activities using two A300-600 "full freighters."
According to the airline's timetable covers, the following destinations in the western hemisphere were served by CityBird from its hub in Brussels:[2]
North America[3]
South America
CityBird also served over 50 destinations in Europe from its Brussels hub.
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CityBird operated the following aircraft:[4]
| 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 |
