Notice to Travellers

The Belgian government bans travel to and from Belgium as of 27 January to 1 March 2021 except for essential reasons

The recent decisions of the Belgian government announced late on 22 January 2021 confirmed the travel ban, except for essential reasons. Unfortunately, these new measures force us to temporarily suspend our flights to and from the French West Indies. 

Therefore, we would like to inform you of the following:

• Our flight of 26 January 2021 Brussels Charleroi - Pointe-à-Pitre - Fort-de-France - Brussels Charleroi will be well operated on schedule. 

• Our flights of 29 and 30 January 2021 will be grouped together on a single date: 29 January 2021. These two flights will therefore be combined into a single route, for which you will find the detailed timetable below.

We would like to bring your attention to the fact that from 27 January until 1 March travel for recreational/touristic purposes to/from Belgium is no longer permitted. Passengers must be able to justify their travel for an essential reason.

• Our flights will be suspended from 30 January 2021 until 1 March 2021. The situation will be reassessed considering future government decisions, but for the time being, we are maintaining our flight schedule beyond March 1st.

• Our passengers who were scheduled to travel on our lines between 30 January and 1 March can postpone their trip free of charge to a later date and under the same conditions or be reimbursed.*

• Passengers with a planned return flight to Belgium or the French West Indies after 30 January may be redirected via another airline. Our customer service department will contact each of these passengers in writing or by telephone in the next few days

In view of the number of people to be accommodated, we deal with changes individually and in order of priority based on the closest dates. It may therefore take a few days before we can contact you. We thank you for your understanding and patience. 

Important: if your ticket has been booked through a travel agency, please contact them to make the necessary changes.

For any travel rescheduling or questions about your booking, you can send us an email at [email protected], indicating your: full name, telephone number and booking number. A member of our customer service team will contact you personally as soon as possible. A solution will be offered to each of our passengers.

Although the return to a settled situation is taking longer than we all hoped for, we remain optimistic and determined to resume our operations as soon as possible. We thank you again for your trust and will make the most of the next few days to prepare our next flight with you!

Until then, we wish you to stay healthy and enjoy the good times.

See you soon

The Air Belgium Team

*For a period of one year from the original planned travel date and within the same seasonality.

The French Authorities impose with immediate effect new travel conditions for passengers travelling to the Caribbean

Dear Air Belgium Traveller,

Dear Madam, Dear Sir,

This weekend, the French authorities changed the conditions of access to the French West indies including for Air Belgium destinations : Guadeloupe and Martinique. The variants of the COVID-19 virus and their high rate of transmission have led the French Authorities to review the conditions of access to these two islands.

From January, 18th 2021, to access Guadeloupe and Martinique:

• Passengers must perform an RT-PCR test within 72 hours prior to departure and have negative RT-PCR test results to present at the check-in counter.

• Antigenic tests are no longer accepted by the French and local Authorities of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

• Passengers must observe a seven-day quarantine on arrival:
  • For those staying in resort/hotel: you may continue to circulate within the resort/hotel ( restaurants, beaches, etc.) respecting the sanitary measures, observing barrier gestures and avoiding contact as much as possible. It is NOT allowed to leave the resort/hotel before the end of the seven-day quarantine on arrival.
  • For those staying in rented accommodations: It is not allowed to leave your accommodation before the end of the seven-day quarantine, except for essential movements (medical reasons or food shopping).

• Passengers who stay more than 7 days must all without exception and imperatively take an RT-PCR test on the spot, 7 days after their arrival.

These new measures strongly condition travel to the Caribbean and will certainly be reinforced in the coming days. We regret this last minute turnaround of situation and the very short notice advice from French Authorities.

• For passengers who are leaving and returning this week: our flights from Brussels Charleroi, Pointe-à-Pitre and Fort-de-France on January 19th and 22th, 2021 are operating according to conditions explained here-above.

• For passengers departing and returning after January 22th, 2021 : at this stage, we are awaiting confirmation from the local Authorities as to whether our flights should be temporarily suspended from January 22th, 2021.

• For passengers to depart from Brussels Charleroi on or after January 26th:
  • We advise them to postpone their travel dates to a later date, if they do not have compelling reasons to travel to the French West Indies. We give all our passengers the possibility to postpone their trip free of charge and within one year from their initial travel dates.
  • For those whose travel is justified by compelling reasons, and in the event that we are not authorized to operate our flights, a re-routing solution via another airline will be offered if possible on the same dates.

• For passengers with a return flight departing from Pointe-à-Pitre or Fort-de-France on or after January 26th, 2021:
  • We will contact them in the next few days and in order of priority of flight dates, as soon as we have been notified by the local Authorities whether or not we will be authorized to continue flying beyond January 26th, 2021. 
  • In the event that Air Belgium flights are no longer authorized as of January 26th, a re-routing solution via another company will be proposed if possible on the same dates.

• As a reminder, for all our passengers who wish to postpone their trip to a later date, our conditions of postponement free of charge remain of course applicable.

In any case, each of our passengers who had a direct booking on airbelgium.com, will be contacted individually and personally by our customer support team in order of priority according to the departure dates. For passengers who have a reservation through a travel agency or tour operator, we invite them to contact their agency immediately.

Priority is of course given to those passengers who had to travel this week. Passengers who were scheduled to travel after January 26th and wish to change their travel dates are invited to write tous at: [email protected]. Rest assured that a travel solution will be proposed to each of our passengers. 

Although Air Belgium is in no way responsible for these new measures, nor for their implementation with immediate effect and without prior notice, we are of course sorry for all our passengers and share their frustration. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.

For more details on the decisions taken by the French Authorities, we invite you to consult the decrees of January 15th, 2021 and Prefectural Order of January 16th, 2021 via these links:

Decree of January 15th, 2021
Prefectorial Order of Guadeloupe of January 16th, 2021
Prefectorial Order of Martinique of January 16th, 2021

We will continue to keep you informed of the next developments.

We already thank you for your patience, your understanding and your trust. Be assured of our total dedication and the follow-up of each of our passengers.

See you soon,

The Air Belgium Team

Air Belgium offers you, in collaboration with FLOA Bank, the possibility to pay your tickets in 3 installments. It’s easy. Select the desired flights and click on the ‘3 installments payment’ button. You will only pay for the first third of your order when you make you reservation.

All you need is your VISA or Mastercard to book your flights. You don't need to provide any supporting documents or additional details.

A first payment will be made on the day of your reservation, equal to one third of the total amount. The other two thirds will be debited separately and respectively 30 days and 60 days after your booking. The 3 monthly installments will be charged to the credit card you provided when making your initial reservation.

The ‘extra bonus': for all bookings made until January 31th 2021, you will not pay any credit fees!

This payment facility is limited to individuals residing in Belgium, mainland France or the French overseas departments and territories. It is available for all bookings under €6,000.

If you would like more information, please click here. Do not hesitate to contact us, we will be happy to help you.

Thanks for your trust and see you soon.

The Air Belgium Team

The sanitary situation in Martinique and Guadeloupe has considerably improved in the last few weeks, the COVID-19 indicators have all returned below the alert or vigilance thresholds.

As a result, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to reclassify these two territories as an orange zone.

This implies that:

• Passengers from Martinique and Guadeloupe are therefore no longer subject to the quarantine obligation upon their return to Belgium. However, please make sure to fill in the "Passenger Locator Form" within 48 hours before your arrival in Belgium.
• Access restrictions to Martinique were lifted at the beginning of the week by the local Prefecture and restaurants will reopen as of tomorrow, December 11th.
• The only requirement is that each passenger must provide the results of a negative RT-PCR test, carried out 72 hours before the flight, when boarding from Brussels Charleroi airport.

We continue to make every effort to offer you a pleasant journey in the best conditions and we look forward to welcoming you back on board.

Thank you again for your trust,

The Air Belgium Team

Dear Traveller,

We understand that the current sanitary context may cause uncertainty and stress for those of you who wish to book their next travel or holiday.

If you are in in doubt, we have something that will reassure you!

We offer you peace of mind with our "ZEN” formula applicable to all tickets booked on our scheduled routes and destinations.

Just relax! As we are waiving all extra charges for any flight ticket purchased from now on until December 31, 2020 included you will be able:

• To modify your travel dates for a trip planned before December 31, 2021 included.
• To change your destination for a trip before December 31, 2021 included.

And since we want everyone to feel “super ZEN” 😊 you may also be fully reimbursed in the event we are prevented from operating some of our flights due to eventual COVID-19 restrictions.

• Should you wish to modify your travel dates, you may login via the “My Booking” section on airbelgium.com to select your new travel dates up to 48H before your departure (*).

• Should you wish to switch your destination, we kindly ask you to inform us at least 7 days prior to your initial scheduled departure at the following email address: [email protected] (*).  

Spare yourself the hassle of last-minute bookings, and benefit from our attractive early fares! Book now your preferred dates at the most suitable fares, and simply stay “ZEN”.

For more information, visit our COVID-19 page for more details on our “ZEN” formula”.

We look forward to welcoming you on board very soon and thank you for your trust.

The Air Belgium Team

(*) This offer is valid for bookings made from August 21st, 2020 until October 31^st, 2020 included and for any travel date. Possibility to change dates and destination once, without administrative charges and regardless of your initial ticket conditions. In the event you are changing dates and/or destination leading to a fare increase, you will simply be asked to pay the difference before your departure date. In the event of a decrease in fare you will be reimbursed. All other conditions and services related to your initial ticket remain valid and applicable subject to availability.

In order to prevent any risk to human food and animal feed and to guarantee healthy and good quality crops, the European Union (EU) places great emphasis on plant and crop protection. Consequently, the movement of plants from third countries is monitored in order to prevent harmful organisms from being introduced into, spreading and establishing themselves in the EU.

As a reminder, since 14 December 2019, the import of plant material from third countries is banned in all EU member states through an EU regulation.

This means that the import of plants, fruit, vegetables, cut flowers, seeds and other fresh parts, soil and certain types of wood from countries outside the European Union is prohibited. This ban on the import of plant material also applies to the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, Mayotte, Réunion, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin as well as the Canary Islands and Ceuta and Melilla.

However, the import of plant material may be authorised if it comes with a phytosanitary certificate issued by the country of origin.

There are also exemptions for certain types of fruit, including pineapple, coconut, durian, banana and dates, which can be imported from any third country.

High-risk products (potatoes, soil, leafs, citrus fruit etc.) are systematically prohibited.

The customs departments of the EU member states carry out checks.

Dear Passengers,

Good news for your (furry) friend! If your dog is a brachycephalic (or ‘short-headed’) breed, you can take him along with Air Belgium.

How does it work? All you need to do is complete and sign a waiver form. The form is mandatory, whether your pet travels in the cabin or hold.

You can find all the relevant information in the ‘Travelling with pets’ section on our website.

Happy travels, and we hope to see you soon!

Dear Passengers,

We would like to draw your attention to the customs regulations to observe for your journey to the French Antilles.

Although Fort-de-France and Pointe-à-Pitre are part of the French territory, the overseas territories like Martinique and Guadeloupe are in fact treated as non-EU territories.

As such, restrictions on the import of products from these territories do apply. Consequently, you are only allowed to bring back one litre of alcohol per person (rum, in particular).

For further information, please visit the Belgian Customs and Excise Service website or the French Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes portal.

We look forward to welcoming you on board soon!