Remembering Aldo Vastapane: A Life of Entrepreneurship and Adventures

2023-10-31 10:00:00

“He left tired but peaceful,” one of these relatives confided to us, following “a beautiful and long life”, since the man was approaching his 98th birthday.

Several facets

He leaves two children, his son Philippe and his daughter Patricia, whom he had with his first wife. He remarried regarding forty years ago, to a woman who died regarding two years ago. “He liked to eat well, drink well, he was a bon vivant,” we are told.

In his career, Aldo Vastapane has invested in the automotive sector as an importer for Simca and Mercedes-Benz. He also invested in real estate with notable projects such as Manhattan, Interparking, and the Maison du Cygne in Brussels, contributed to the development of certain duty free stores (Skyshops) and acquired a breeding farm of more than 30,000 animals. in Congo at the request of his friend Albert Frère. He was also known by the nickname “Monsieur Martini-Belgique”, among others, because he had started importing Martinis into Belgium and himself has Italian origins.

In the early 2000s, Aldo Vastapane returned to the news in the wake of the bankruptcy of Sabena at the end of 2001, a few weeks following the September 11 attacks in New York. Indeed, to everyone’s surprise, he took back control and gave new life to Sobelair, the former charter subsidiary of the Belgian national airline. Passionate regarding aviation but also regarding South Africa, where he owned a property, he notably opened a destination to Johannesburg.

But the air adventure would not last: in January 2004, and failing to generate sufficient profitability, Sobelair would in turn fall into bankruptcy. Subsequently, Aldo Vastapane will be more discreet.

Albert Frère, a man of the land and terroirs who had a taste for wine
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