Sabena

Sabena was Belgium's flag carrier from 1923 until 2001, and one of the oldest airlines in Europe. Years of losses, an ill-fated partnership with Swissair and the aftermath of 11 September 2001 brought it down, and its last flight landed in Brussels on 7 November 2001. Its regional subsidiary restarted flying within days and became SN Brussels Airlines, later Brussels Airlines.

How it started

Sabena, the Société anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne, was established on 23 May 1923 by the Belgian government. It succeeded SNETA, the country's first commercial airline, which had existed from 1919 to 1922. Flightradar24 dates the first commercial flight to 1 June 1923, from Brussels to London via Ostend, while Afterburner gives 1 July 1923 for the start of operations, so sources differ on the exact day. Services to Germany, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland followed within a few years.

The heyday

Sabena was Europe's second oldest airline after KLM. During the Second World War its European links were suspended, but it kept flying African routes. European services resumed in 1946, under the name Sabena – Belgian World Airlines. Africa remained central to the network, and Airbus A330s and A340s served many of the long-haul destinations.

By 2000, according to Aviation24, it employed about 10,000 people and carried 11 million passengers to 107 destinations in 48 countries. It owned regional subsidiary Delta Air Transport (DAT) and charter arm Sobelair. At the end its fleet was 53 aircraft: Airbus A319s, A320s, A330s and A340s, Boeing 737s and two leased MD-11s.

What went wrong

Sabena was habitually loss-making. Airlines Remembered notes that it made a profit only once after 1958. The causes, broadly in order:

• Chronic losses and weak capital. Aviation24 cites underinvestment, social unrest and debt of around two billion euros by the end.
• The Swissair partnership. Swissair took a stake in 1995, after a joint venture with Air France ended. It did not work out, and Swissair was itself struggling with losses at several European partners.
• A large Airbus order. Simple Flying reports that a Belgian government committee criticised the order for 34 Airbus aircraft as a heavy burden.
• September 2001. Transatlantic traffic fell after the attacks. Swissair had pledged a further €258 million but never delivered it, and it filed for protection about a month before Sabena collapsed. The committee also faulted the Belgian state for not doing enough to save the airline.

Sabena sought protection from creditors in early October 2001. The Brussels Commercial Court declared it bankrupt on 6 November, and the judgment was published as dated 7 November.

The last flight

The final flight was SN690, an Airbus A340-311 registered OO-SCZ, which flew Abidjan–Cotonou–Brussels on 7 November 2001. Aviation24 says it landed with 266 passengers and 11 crew. About 10,000 jobs were lost. It was the first collapse of a European flag carrier and Belgium's biggest corporate failure.

What happened next

Only three days later, on 10 November 2001, DAT resumed flying as the Belgian regional airline after receiving Sabena's slots at Brussels Airport. On 15 February 2002 it adopted the name SN Brussels Airlines. In 2007 it merged with Virgin Express to become Brussels Airlines, which began operations on 25 March 2007 and still uses Sabena's IATA code, SN. The sources reviewed do not say how many Sabena staff or aircraft passed to the new carrier.

Sources: Wikipedia: Sabena, Flightradar24: Belgian aviation, from Sabena to Brussels Airlines, Aviation24: Twenty years ago, Sabena was declared bankrupt, Airlines Remembered: Sabena, Simple Flying: Sabena - What Went Wrong, Simple Flying: The story behind Belgium's flag carrier, Afterburner: Sabena airline is founded, Wikipedia: Brussels Airlines