Grounded: CityBird

This episode of the Grounded Series looks at the Flying Dream that was CityBird, a Belgian airline with long-haul dreams which quickly descended into a nightmare... Founded by the men behind Trans European Airways and EuroBelgian Airlines (later Virgin Express) CityBird set off to offer affordable long-haul travel but quickly had the first of many changes in direction which would ultimately doom the airline...
Apologies once again for the delay, I had to re-draft the script twice but the biggest nuisance was being called out for five days in a row from home standby when I had hoped to have used those days to put this together with the result being a further two week delay :/ I also dropped the same clanger three times during the episode where I said "five" instead of "four" due to tiredness and confusion with me only picking this mistake up as I was finishing the video and had to hurriedly drop correction cards in, honestly I've never been flying so much in all my career and boy does it show (even my missus is used to me asking what day of the week it is as I'm that worn out).
Chapter Guide
00:00 Intro
00:22 Origins of CityBird
01:35 CityBird Begins Operations
06:12 The Sabena Deal
08:27 767 Charter Operations
09:18 Cargo & The Congo
13:15 Switching to Short-Haul
15:02 Long-haul Biz Class
15:40 Dawn of the Millennium
17:29 Sabena Deal Collapses
18:18 Doubling Down on Short-Haul
19:45 Circling the Drain
21:27 Thomas Cook to the Rescue?
22:33 The Betrayal
23:46 The Flying Dream Dies
23:58 So What Went Wrong?
28:20 What Happened Next?
29:03 Outro
Thank you as always for watching, I hope that this episode was worth the wait and I hope it draws a nice conclusion to the three episode arc which saw us look at Trans European Airways and EuroBelgian/Virgin Express.
Our next episode should be a holiday special and I am also working on some re-releases which will see new episodes of previously covered airlines allowing us to enjoy better audio and graphics as well as any new information which I may not have noted when doing those early episodes.
Airlines mentioned in todays episode that are previously covered by the Grounded Series include;
Trans European Airways (TEA)
• Grounded: Trans Europe...
EuroBelgian Airlines / Virgin Express
• Grounded: Virgin Express
Excel Airways (Because of course I worked them into yet another episode)
*The rise of Excel
• Grounded: Excel Airways
*The fall of XL
• Grounded: XL Airways
I really appreciate any comments and feedback on this or other episodes as well as suggestions for future episodes. Believe me, if I say that your airline is "on the list", it really is :) Check back to see future episodes or better yet, subscribe to catch them as they land and as always, thanks for watching!
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#GroundedSeries #CityBird #CityBirdAirline

[@Genmeeks]

I flew on CityBird as a child (I think towards either Orlando or Miami); I was too young to know.
I do have fond memories of these flights though, the flight attendants were very sweet and helpful and supplied me with a 'kid's package' containing toys, puzzle games, ...

[@ExpoAviation]

Oh wow that's pretty cool, I remember when airlines used to give out kids packs but sadly these days it'll be too expensive :/

[@maxsmodels]

Great video

[@ExpoAviation]

Thank you :)

[@AviationCommercials]

Great video- I got to see a few of their MD-11s on diversions to KBOS. Always nice to see. I remember the next carrier - VG Airlines, later Delsey Airlines.

[@ExpoAviation]

Thank you :) I only saw them once, just a 737. VG was "the other carrier" to sprout up following Sabena's collapse, it was launched by a guy called Freddy Van Gaever (hence the "VG") and later sold to the suitcase guys... Another airline with a very good livery and a short story...

[@michaelramirez9650]

Would love to hear the full history of World Airways, always loved seeing their MD-11s flying in and out of the US

[@ExpoAviation]

Rest assured that World Airways are "on my list" as it were, they are one of those somewhat complex stories - particularly towards their end.

[@UNDR08]

Nice video. I always get excited when I see another episode of grounded pop up.
The City Bird green livery was really sharp. I thought it look pretty great on the 737.

[@ExpoAviation]

Thank you, I appreciate that :) Yes it was a very good looking livery :)

[@sexyguy3647]

Great to see a new upload. Know it's gonna be good already

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks, I hope it was worth the wait :)

[@AlexAviation.]

Citybird was an interesting Belgium airline colours of each aircraft was beautiful

[@ExpoAviation]

Yes they certainly had a very nice livery :)

[@quailking8265]

Good vid and thanks so much - good for giving this airline more recognition

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks for watching :)

[@Hurts1983]

Thank you for another excellent video Phil ❤❤❤

[@ExpoAviation]

Thank you, much appreciated :)

[@julioniccolasbueno]

🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@noah_dpk]

As great of an episode as usual!

[@ExpoAviation]

Thank you :)

[@zionismisterrorism8716]

Love these videos.
As a request, it would be cool if you could make videos about these defunct airlines too: JAS, "Ecuatoriana de Aviación", PeoplExpress, "Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul" otherwise known as "Cruzeiro", Air Afrique, and Air Liberte/Air Lib.

[@ExpoAviation]

Great to hear! I've got a few of those suggestions "in the works" already so stay tuned :)

[@E_WANR]

where did citybird france operate from ? very intruiging this pattern of short lived french operations hah

[@ExpoAviation]

They did a number of "w-patterns" from Lille and Paris to destinations in the Med, they weren't around particularly long (as they were late to the party) so there isn't much information on them.

[@gordonwerner]

Ooo. I would love a story on ALM

[@ExpoAviation]

I'm sure I will get around to them soon :)