ASL Airlines Belgium, formerly TNT Airways, is a Belgiancargo airline operating chartered flights mainly to European destinations. It has its head office and hub on the grounds of Liège Airport. The airline used to be a subsidiary of TNT Express but was sold to ASL Airlines Ireland in 2016 and subsequently rebranded.
History
1999 TNT Airways is founded and incorporated in Belgium. AOC and Air Transport License application with the Belgian authorities. 2000 First BAe 146-300 QT Type Certification in Belgium. TNT Airways resumes air operations immediately between Liege and Vienna with its first BAe 146-300 QT. Introduction of its first Airbus A300B4F into service. Full member of IATA. Extension of its operation area from European coverage to Worldwide coverage. 2001 TRTO approvals allowing in-house crew training for the A300, BAe146 and extended to training of instructors and examiners. Recognized as Scheduled Operator by Belgian Authorities. 2002 US Department of Transport and FAA approval to conduct operation with inter-modal capability between the US and Belgium. License by Liege Airport Company to provide ramp handling services to 3rd party carriers whether passenger or cargo operators. TRTO approval extended to include the Boeing 747-400ERF. Code share agreement with China Southern for a daily Boeing 747 freighter service between Liege, Shanghai and Shenzhen. 2003 Introduction in service of its first Boeing 737-300 SF. KLM Engineering awarded in the maintenance support agreement for TNT Airways Boeing 737-300SF. Recognized as JAR-Ops 1 compliant. AOC updated accordingly. TRTO approval extended to include the Boeing 737-300. 2004 Cat III approval for 737 operations extended to Passenger Charter Services. TNT Airways is granted passenger transport approval - AOC and Air Transport License are modified accordingly - and starts its passenger charter operations to different Mediterranean destinations. 2005 Entry into service of 1st Boeing 737-300 in passenger version. TNT Airways introduces a first Boeing 737 QC. 2006 TNT Airways introduces a BAe 146 QC in its fleet. TNT Airways introduces its first Boeing Boeing 747-400ERF. 2007 First flight Liege - Shanghai with a Boeing 747 Entry into service of the second 747-400ERF 2008 First flight between Liege - Singapore - Shanghai with a 747 2009 First flight Liege - Hong Kong with a 747 2010 TNT expands its long haul network with a five-day-per-week air cargo service linking Moscow and its main European hub Liege as well as with a direct flight between Chongqing and Liège. The same year, the company introduces three Boeing 777s in its fleet 2011 In January, the two divisions, TNT Post and TNT Express, split to create two separate companies. The split is effective from the 1st of May 2011. 2012 TNT Airways and Emirates SkyCargo expand their cooperation by signing a code-share and blocked-space agreement. Emirates SkyCargo will place its airline code and use space on TNT Airways' 777 freighter flights on the New York JFK to Liege and Hong Kong-Dubai-Liege routes. 2016 ASL Airlines Ireland purchased TNT Airways and sister company PAN Air from TNT Express. A contract with TNT Express was established to further provide air cargo services for the company. Shortly after, TNT Airways was rebranded ASL Airlines Belgium.
, the ASL Airlines Belgium fleet consists of the following registered aircraft:
Current Fleet
Retired Fleet
Accidents and incidents
On 15 June 2006, TNT Airways Flight 352, a Boeing 737-300 cargo aircraft operating a flight from Liège Airport to London Stansted Airport had to divert to East Midlands Airport due to bad weather. On final approach the autopilot was disengaged for a short period. The aircraft touched down on the grass to the left of the runway, resulting in the right main landing gear being detached and the right wing tip and engine scraping the ground. The pilots managed to lift off again and subsequently made an emergency diversion to Birmingham International Airport, where a landing was performed on the remaining two landing gears, during which the aircraft scraped its nose and right engine. There were no injuries, but thousands of passengers had to be moved to other airports. The cause of the crash was determined to be a poorly timed message from local air traffic control which the pilot misinterpreted, causing him to descend too quickly. The autopilot system was disengaged due to a "momentary lapse". The team of pilots were said by the airline to have managed the situation with skill once the error had been detected, but were dismissed from service with the company as a result of the incident.
