CHARLEROI - Rebounding Air Belgium is bucking the trend turning a profit in April and looking optimistically towards the future. In mid-December this year, it is launching a new route to Mauritius, and come 2021, it is eyeing new transatlantic destinations in the United States and the Dutch Caribbean.

Relative newcomer hybrid airline Air Belgium is eyeing new destinations westwards, rather than the Asian routes it had initially intended for its four A350 aircraft. The Brussels-Charleroi-based carrier says it is planning to fly to the United States in 2021.

While it has not specified any destinations in particular, it is not planning to enter into North American competition with its compatriot.

For 2021, Air Belgium also intends to launch a route from the Belgian capital to one destination in the Dutch Antilles. Prior to that, however, the airline will, if all goes according to plan, launch a new twice-weekly service to Mauritius from Brussels Airport in mid-December 2020.