CityBird

CityBird S.A. was a Belgian airline, established in August 1996 and 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.

FoundedAugust 6, 1996

Ceased operations

October 4, 2001

HubsBrussels Airport

SubsidiariesCityBird France

Quick facts IATA, ICAO ...

CityBird

McDonnell Douglas MD-11
IATA ICAO Call sign H2 CTB DREAM FLIGHT
Founded	August 6, 1996
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

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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.^[2]"

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 October 4. Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium considered buying them out of bankruptcy for around €10 million, but later pulled out^[3].