On November 7, 2001, Belgian flag carrier Sabena (SN) ceased operations. Its final flight, SN690, arrived at Brussels Airport (BRU) from Abidjan via Cotonou, operated by Airbus A340-300 OO-SCZ.
The shutdown followed weeks of efforts to keep the airline flying. Contemporary reporting by Swissinfo described Sabena's bankruptcy filing that day after its board failed to find new investors. Its financial problems predated the September 11 attacks, which further weakened demand across the industry.
African Connections
Sabena began operating in 1923. Its African network developed through Belgium's colonial links with what was then the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A Sabena Handley Page W.8F left Brussels on February 12, 1925, for a pioneering journey to Léopoldville, now Kinshasa. The trip took 51 days. It was an exploratory flight rather than the start of a regular passenger route.
According to Brussels Airport's historical account, scheduled service to the Congo began on February 23, 1935. A Brussels Airlines retrospective identifies the aircraft used for that service as the Fokker F.VII/3m, with journeys taking about five and a half days.
Swissair Partnership
Swissair acquired a 49.5% stake in Sabena in 1995, while the Belgian government held 50.5%.
Swissair grounded its fleet on October 2, 2001. That grounding did not mark its permanent closure. Sabena sought protection from creditors the following day and continued flying for another month.
Swissinfo's November 2001 account of the ensuing legal dispute reported that Swissair had withdrawn promised financial support. The Belgian government and Sabena subsequently pursued compensation for alleged contractual failures.
SN Brussels Airlines was created in 2002 after Sabena's bankruptcy; Brussels Airlines followed in 2007 through the merger with Virgin Express.
Featured image: A Sabena Airbus A310 seen in 1985.
Featured image: Sabena Airbus A310-200. Photo: Michel Gilliand/Wikimedia Commons, GFDL 1.2 only (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:GNU_Free_Documentation_License,_version_1.2). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17585404. Resized.
