N.V. Virgin Express S.A. was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

airline created within the

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding c ...

. It operated flights mainly to southern Europe from its hub at

Brussels Airport Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...

. Ticket sales were mainly through the Internet. The airline merged with

SN Brussels Airlines SN Brussels Airlines (SNBA) was the national airline of Belgium, which mainly operated from Brussels Airport. SNBA was the trading name of the Belgian airline Delta Air Transport. SNBA was a full-service airline, connecting Brussels with the r ...

to form

Brussels Airlines Brussels Airlines is the flag carrier and largest airline of Belgium, based and headquartered at Brussels Airport. It operates to over 100 destinations in Europe, North America and Africa and also offers charter services, maintenance and crew ...

, which started operations on 25 March 2007. Virgin Express' head office was in Building 116 at

Zaventem Zaventem () is a Belgian municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant. It is located in the Dijleland area, one of the three large recreational areas which together form the '' Groene Gordel'' ("Green Belt") around the Brussels-Capital Region. ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, near

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

History

Virgin Express was founded on 23 April 1996, when the

(with chairman

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

) bought the Belgian leisure airline EBA - EuroBelgian Airlines, founded by

Victor Hasson Victor Hasson (1957 – January 10, 2005), also known as Vico was a Belgian (born in Burundi) businessman who started multiple companies. Career Victor Hasson, also known as "Vico", graduated from the Université libre de Bruxelles w ...

and Georges Gutelman, and rebranded it Virgin Express. It also took over EBA's fleet of

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

s and operated this type of aircraft from thereon. The airline soon concentrated on low-budget scheduled flights out of its Brussels hub, and became a major competitor for

Sabena The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

and later

. In October 2004, the Virgin Group sold its assets to SN Brussels Airlines, and both airlines were integrated into the parent

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

SN Airholding, chaired by Viscount

Étienne Davignon Étienne, Count Davignon (born 4 October 1932 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Belgian politician, businessman, and former vice-president of the European Commission. Career After receiving a Doctorate of Law from the Catholic University of Louvain, ...

. On 31 March 2006, SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express announced their merger into a single company, named

. The combined airline added long haul destinations and strengthened its position in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Destinations

Fleet

Boeing 737-405, Virgin Express AN0688998

Boeing_737-36N,_Virgin_Express_AN0870896

The Virgin Express fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of August 2006):

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

, 3–9 October 2006 Three Boeing 737-300 (OO-VEX, OO-VEG and OO-VEH) were fitted with winglets (March 2007). The airline operated a maximum of 26 737s at its peak, and was given the first Joint Aviation Authorities air operator's certificate delivered by the Belgian Civil Aviation Authorities. After the merger, all ten of the Virgin Express fleet went to

. The airline has since phased out its Boeing 737s. Virgin Express also had formerly operated the following aircraft:

References

External links

Virgin Express web page at archive.org
{{Authority control Defunct airlines of Belgium

Express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...

Defunct European low-cost airlines Airlines established in 1996 Airlines disestablished in 2007 Zaventem 2007 disestablishments in Belgium Belgian companies established in 1996

History

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References

External links