The Chinese Hongyuan Group is further expanding its investment in the airline Air Belgium. The purchase of the Boeing 747-8F cargo aircraft follows not least because of financial support from China.

A first Boeing 747 bears the lettering "Hongyuan Group" on the fuselage. The Air Belgium logo is on the tailplane. According to the announcement, the Chinese company wants to increase its stake to up to 49 percent. The majority will remain in the hands of the previous Belgian shareholders.

Hongyuan wants to continue growing at Brussels Airport and use this airport as a gateway to Europe. They currently have an 8.000 square meter warehouse that is to be expanded. A comparable property is also maintained in Liege.

The first two Boeing 747-8Fs come from Air Saudia stocks and are leased from Aircraft Finance Germany. These are the machines with the former registrations HZ-AI3 and HZ-AI4. The first B747F has already been registered as OO-ABI on Air Belgium.