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Sabena S.A./N.V. Business Information, Profile, and History

Avenue Mounierlaan, 2
1200 Brussels
Belgium

Company Perspectives:

Our mission is to serve airline customers safely, punctually and profitably from the heart of Europe. Our vision is to grow worldwide as a sustained profitable airline Group by exceeding cost effectively the needs of our customers, leveraging our partnerships and developing our people.

History of Sabena S.A./N.V.

Sabena S.A./N.V. has become Europe's fastest growing airline on the strength of speedy connections through Brussels, the 'capital of Europe.' Its base sees a steady stream of European diplomats and NATO emissaries. Also strong in former colonies in Africa, Sabena carries nine million passengers a year. The company is 49.5 percent owned by Swissair, with the remaining shares being held by the Belgian government and other interests. Its management structure is complicated by a power-sharing arrangement between its Flemish and French-speaking factions. Flying for more than 75 years, Sabena is one of the world's oldest airlines.

Colonial Origins

Belgian civil air transportation has its origins in SNETA, the National Society for the Study of Air Transport, founded in 1919. SNETA ferried passengers to neighboring capitals on primitive planes left over from World War I. Société Anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne--S.A.B.E.N.A. for short--replaced SNETA in 1923.

Sabena flew the three-engined civil transports of the day. Its first official service was to the United Kingdom via Brussels-Ostend-Lympne, and its first scheduled passenger route connected Brussels and Strasbourg in 1924. The next year, it sent pilot Edmond Thieffry on a 51 day flight (75 hours in the air) to Leopoldville (Kinshasa) in the Belgian Congo, where Sabena then began to build a local route network. In ten years, Sabena was operating scheduled flights on the Brussels-Leopoldville route.

World War II interrupted civil aviation throughout Europe. After the war, Sabena took wing under chairman Gilbert Périer. In 1947, the Brussels-New York route, flown by new DC-4s, was added to Sabena's long-haul international routes. Sabena also operated the ubiquitous Convair in the 1950s. In the next two decades, the carrier would bring in state-of-the-art jets such as the Caravelle and the Boeing 707 and 747.

Employment reached 10,000 in 1957. Overstaffed and undercapitalized, Sabena finally instituted a restructuring in 1968. In 1969, Sabena added a Vienna-Brussels-New York route in conjunction with Austrian Airlines.

The 1970s-80s

In spite of its new fiscal discipline, the oil crises of the 1970s and fierce transatlantic price competition from newly deregulated U.S. carriers hit Sabena hard. Chairman Carlos Van Rafelghem oversaw yet another restructuring. Workforce reduction and wage controls were combined with an infusion of new capital from the government. The company was also divided into subsidiaries. Sabena's balance sheet improved for a few years following these moves.

In the early 1970s, there was talk of combining Sabena with KLM and Luxair to form Benelux Airlines, but these plans were scrapped. Subsequent merger talks with Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) were also unproductive, and Sabena remained an independent airline.

In 1989, the carrier shortened its name from Sabena Belgian World Airlines to Sabena World Airlines or SWA. It sought to become identified as an airline dedicated to the European Community, and toward that end exploited its uncrowded Brussels hub, connecting underserved, secondary markets such as Bristol, Nuremberg, and Lyon.

In December 1989, KLM and British Airways (BA) announced they would each take 20 percent stakes in SWA at a cost of $55 million (£33 million) each. Sabena planned to nearly double its fleet of 35 planes within five years to meet the conditions of the pact. However, protests by British Midland and Belgian charter carrier Trans European Airways caught the ear of the European Commission and the British Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Sabena was already operating in the red, and in September 1990 management asked the Belgian government for help meeting a cash crisis. This, along with the unfavorable regulatory climate, conspired to kill the BA/KLM deal.

Crisis in the 1990s

Civil airlines worldwide were hurt by the Persian Gulf War, high fuel costs, and a global recession. At the end of 1990, Sabena's new chairman Pierre Godfroid, who came to Sabena from his position as head of Campbell Soup Co.'s European operations, had the responsibility of restructuring the company and readying it for privatization. His plan cut 2,500 of 11,000 jobs over three years. Management techniques were refined along total quality management (TQM) lines. Sabena unveiled a new corporate identity in the early 1990s, beckoning patrons to 'enjoy' the company. Employees did not enjoy the austerity measures, however, resulting in a few strikes.

The carrier's search for a new investment partner finally brought it to Air France, with whom it signed a cooperative pact in April 1992. The Belgian holding company Finacta invested BFr 6 billion, including Air France's capital. The Belgian government added another BFr 9 billion, raising Sabena's total capital to 16 billion.

Although traffic rose in 1994, tough competition prevented Sabena from enjoying a profit. It lost $125.6 million on sales of $1.2 billion. Political and economic problems in Africa contributed to weaker than expected business there.

Air France withdrew its investment in 1994. Its partnership with Sabena could not stop the tide of red ink at either airline. However, in May 1995, Swissair moved to broaden its cooperation with Sabena in all areas of operations. On July 25, SAirGroup, Swissair's parent, acquired 49.5 percent of Sabena's shares for BFr 10.5 billion. Sabena group achieved turnover of BFr 59 million and a passenger count of five million in 1995. Cargo volumes swelled as well. However, both Sabena and Swissair suffered serious losses.

A pact between KLM and Northwest Airlines, given unprecedented antitrust immunity in 1992, sparked a series of alliances that would divvy up most North Atlantic traffic between four main airline groupings within a few years. Sabena partnered with Delta Air Lines on such routes, beginning with Brussels-Atlanta where two carriers jointly staffed an aircraft. The code-sharing was later extended to a few of Sabena's German destinations. Other partners in Delta's 'Atlantic Excellence' program included Swissair and Austrian Airlines.

Sabena seized a couple of point-to-point opportunities from Bologna created by European deregulation. It operated charter flights through its Sobelair subsidiary while Delta Air Transport served as its regional airline. Sabena partnered with the budget carrier Virgin Express (51 percent owned by Virgin Atlantic but based in Brussels) on a Brussels-London route. It had also added code-share agreements with Tyrolean Airways and Finnair. A code share with TAP Air Portugal extended Sabena's reach to Macau. The company bought a 49.5 percent stake in Air Zaire in 1996.

Godfroid, along with two other executives, resigned abruptly in March 1996 in a period of labor turmoil. He had proposed scrapping existing labor agreements following their expiration, sparking a crippling series of strikes. Paul Reutlinger, Swissair's marketing vice-president, was immediately appointed CEO. Air Transport World reported the carrier's payroll accounted for 40 percent of operating costs, nearly twice that of the profit leader British Airways.

Striking pilots were brought back on-line by the threat of Swissair abandoning its $207 million investment in Sabena. The pilots had objected to raising yearly flying time from 625 hours to 650. Their strike only lasted a few hours. Otherwise, SAirGroup aimed to acquire a 62.5 percent controlling interest by 2001, if it could overcome European Union (EU) ownership restrictions, as Switzerland was not an EU member.

Sabena found a needed bargain in the fall of 1996 when it joined Swissair and Austrian Airlines in a $1 billion order for nine Airbus A330 widebody jets. All three planned to expand their alliance with Delta Air Lines to unprecedented levels of cooperation. Still, Sabena realized huge financial losses in 1996 with below-average traffic growth and load factors. Restructuring charges compounded the losses. Revenues were BFr 56.8 billion ($1.5 billion). Its 60 planes carried 5.2 million passengers and 113,000 metric tons of cargo.

Recovery in 1997

Passenger traffic and productivity increased handsomely during the first half of 1997, the beginning of a recovery. The company thinned its long-haul fleet to reduce operating costs. By 2000, it planned to unload its Boeing 747s in favor of Airbus A330s, creating the possibility of having aircrew qualified to fly more than one type, potentially saving several million dollars a year. Commonality would also lower maintenance costs. Swissair preferred Airbus as well.

Sabena planned to add more short and medium range planes. It operated Avro and Boeing aircraft on these routes, and its charter subsidiary Sobelair flew Boeing 737 and 767 jets exclusively. In addition, Sabena Technics performed third-party overhauls on Boeing 737s, raising the possibility of massive layoffs should Airbus win the contract for shorter-range planes. Other types Sabena operated in the 1990s were the British Aerospace BAe 146s and Embraer EMB-145s of Delta Air Transport.

The maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) division, Sabena Technics, competed in a crowded market. The 2,000-employee unit participated in an upgrade program for the Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules, a ubiquitous military transport plane.

To reduce payroll costs, the company planned to base its flight personnel in Switzerland, which had lower employer taxes. In fact, the pilots would not actually have to leave Belgium, just pay taxes to Switzerland.

Sabena added Brussels-Cincinnati in cooperation with Delta Air Lines in 1997. It also entered an agreement with VLM, an independent carrier based in Antwerp. Its losses for the year were reduced, and Sabena led Europe in traffic growth. Cargo shipments were also up.

Employees were retrained to improve customer service and keep passengers from thinking Sabena an acronym for 'Such a Bad Experience, Never Again.' Traffic continued to boom in 1998, rising 30 percent in the first quarter. Service to the United Kingdom reached 100 flights per day. Sabena expanded international routes aggressively, adding Beirut and Bangkok. Its Africa 2002 program aimed to bolster its network of 20 destinations there. The resulting rapid fleet build-up forced Sabena to import pilots. Another one-day pilots' strike came as a result of Sabena banning Virgin Express pilots from recruitment.

Sabena partnered with CityBird, a new Belgian long-haul airline in March 1998, taking an 11 percent share. It also joined the Qualiflyer Group started by Swissair, Austrian Airlines, and several other European carriers. It reduced its holdings in CityBird to less than three percent after CityBird started a Brussels-Kinshasa route in cooperation with Lignes Aériennes Congolaises. A couple of Sabena's feeder routes, Brussels-Paris and Brussels-Luxembourg, were flown by Schreiner Airways operating as Sabena Connect.

Sabena showed a profit of BFr 1.26 billion in 1998, the year of its 75th anniversary. In early 1999, Sabena revamped its colors, returning to its traditional blue and white from the dull gray that had previously dominated its livery.

After Delta Air Lines made Air France its main transatlantic partner, Swissair and Sabena both joined a competing alliance with American Airlines. However, they also remained in Delta's 'Atlantic Excellence' group. Switzerland and the EU were working on an agreement that would allow SAir Group to take a majority ownership in Sabena without forfeiting Sabena's status as an EU carrier.

Principal Subsidiaries: Sobelair (60%); Delta Air Transport; Air Zaire (49.5%).

Principal Competitors: British Airways plc; KLM Royal Dutch Airlines; Deutsche Lufthansa AG; Groupe Air France.

Related information about Sabena

SABENA was the former national airline of Belgium, which mainly operated from Brussels National Airport and has now been replaced by SN Brussels Airlines. The airline operated from 1923 to 2001. It began operations on May 23, 1923 as the Belgian national carrier. It was created by the Belgian government after its predecessor, SNテ欝A (Syndicat national pour l'テゥtude des transports aテゥriens), which was formed in 1919 as a sort of testbed to investigate commercial aviation in Belgium, ceased operations. SABENA Airlines' first paying flight was from Rotterdam to Strasbourg via Brussels on April 1, 1924. Regular flights to Amsterdam and Basle via Strasbourg were initiated by 1923 with further routes to London, Bremen and Copenhagen by 1924.

Belgian Congo

When SABENA was created, it was partly funded by Belgians in the Belgian Congo colony who had lost their air service - an experimental passenger and cargo company (L.A.R.A.) between Kinshasa, Lisala and Stanleyville - a year earlier, and expected the new Belgian national airline to fill this gap. This was finished in 1926 and SABENA immediately began flights within the Congo, the main route being Boma-Lテゥopoldville-テ瑛isabethville, a 2,288 km (1,422 mi) route over dense jungle. 50 aircraft, although these were quickly replaced with the larger Handley-Page W8f airliners, which had three engines and ten seats.

By 1931 SABENA's fleet, including the aircraft used on the Congo network, totalled 43 aircraft. As the 1930s progressed, SABENA cooperated with Air France and Deutsche Lufthansa (who also had interests in routes over Africa and the Congo) on over-flight rights.

SABENA's first long-haul flight to the Congo occurred February 23, 1935 and took five and a half days.

Expansion in Europe

In Europe, SABENA opened services to Copenhagen and Malmテカ in 1931. The mainstay pre-war airliner that SABENA used in Europe was the successful Junkers Ju-52/3m airliner. While the Brussels Haren airport was Sabena's main base, the company also operated lines from other Belgian airports, and even had a domestic network that was mainly used by businessmen who wanted to be in their coastal villas for the weekend.

In 1938, the airline purchased the new S.M. Its mainstay fleet type was the Savoia-Marchetti SM-73 airliner (it had 11 of the type) and the Junkers Ju-52/3m airliner (it had 5.) SABENA also had two Douglas DC-2s.

During World War Two, the airline managed to maintain its Belgian Congo routes, but all European services were stopped.

1946-1960

After the Second World War in 1946, SABENA's fleet consisted of Douglas DC-3s (There were tens of thousands of surplus C-47 Dakotas available to help airlines restart operations after the war.) The airline now flew under the name SABENA - Belgian World Airlines.

SABENA started its first transatlantic route to New York on June 4, 1947, initially using Douglas DC-4s which were quickly replaced by Douglas DC-6Bs. These 'fours' and 'six-Bs' also restarted the airline's historic route to the Belgian Congo.

The Convair 240 was introduced in 1949 to replace the DC-3 twins, who until then flew all European services.

As of 1956, Convair 440 'Metropolitan' twins started to replace the Convair 240 twins and were used successfully well into the 1960s across European regional destinations.

In 1957, the long-haul Douglas DC-7C, the 'Seven Seas', was introduced for long-haul routes but this plane would be supplanted after only three years by the jet age.

1960-1990

1960 saw the introduction of the new Boeing 707-320 intercontinental jet for long-haul trans-Atlantic flights to New York. SABENA was mainland Europe's first airline to operate a jet across the Atlantic (BOAC - now British Airways - had been flying transatlantic services before 1960, using the De Havilland Comet 4 jet.). Sabena Flight 548 went down in flames while preparing to land at Brussels on February 15, 1961. The United States Figure Skating Team was aboard the jet, on their way from New York to Brussels and on to Prague to attend a figure skating championship.

Sud-Est SE-210 Caravelle 6 jetliners were introduced on all medium-haul routes in Europe from February 1961 and were flown on most European routes, alongside the Convair 440s, until the early 1970s.

1961 also saw a major upheaval for SABENA in the Congo colony. When the new Republic began its own airline, Air Congo, in June 1961, SABENA held 30 percent of that airline's shares.

Douglas 'Super DC-6B' aircraft were still in use with SABENA in the mid 1960s despite the airline introducing a fleet of modern Boeing 707 jets. the Boeing 707s and Caravelles were the mainstay types during this decade.

Boeing 727-100s were introduced important European routes from 1967 and the jet was introduced in a colour scheme of its own; The only other aircraft to have its own special markings was the Douglas DC-10.

Fokker F-27 'Friendships' were also introduced at this time and they were used from regional Belgian airports to European destinations such as Heathrow.

1971 saw Boeing 747-100s introduced on the transatlantic routes flying alongside the Boeing 707-320Cs. SABENA, like many other trans-Atlantic airlines was happy with the Boeing 707s but for commercial reasons it had to buy the new jumbo-jets for its prestige services like New York City and as of the mid-seventies, Chicago. SABENA purchased only two first generation jumbo-jets and continued to fly the 707 into the late 1970s.

As of 1973, the Boeing 727s on the European network were replaced by Boeing 737-200. The Douglas DC-10-30 was taken into service in 1974. In total, SABENA purchased four of these convertible wide-body jets.

In 1984 Airbus A310s were introduced on routes that had high passenger-density. the DC-10-30s were replaced with MD-11 jets.

Ever since the European Union had decided that by the mid-nineties the European skies were to be considered a common market, meaning that airlines of a European memberstate would no longer be bound to their own country, it became apparent that SABENA had little chances to survive on its own in this very competitive market. There was a fear in the French speaking part of Belgium that the Dutch would not care about the fragile language division between Dutch and French, always an issue in Belgian politics.

In 1993, Air France purchased a large minority stake in SABENA, which it sold soon after. In 1995, Swissair purchased a 49 percent stake in SABENA, a move that would bring the airline down in 2001.

In 1994, Paul Rusesabagina, a manager for Sabena-owned hotels in the former Belgian colony of Rwanda, sheltered over 1,200 Tutsis and moderate Hutus at the Hテエtel des Mille Collines of Kigali, saving them from being slaughtered by the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide (this is depicted in the motion picture Hotel Rwanda).

1995-2001

The Boeing 747-100s that had entered service in the 1970s were replaced with the new Airbus A340 long-haul jet. By the late 1990s, the airline colours were changed again.

1999 saw the new colours on the latest Airbus equipment to be used by SABENA, the Airbus A321. One of the latest fleet types that SABENA has introduced is the Airbus A319 which saw service in 2000. These new planes were part of a record-order of 36 Airbusses, imposed on SABENA by Swissair.

After an airline recession and the effects on the airline industry of September 11, 2001, all airlines that flew across the Atlantic suffered badly.

Swissair had pledged itself to invest millions into SABENA, but failed to do this, partly because the airline had financial problems itself, and partly because of new management. Sabena operated its final flight on November 7, 2001. The company filed for legal protection against its creditors on October 3, and went into liquidation on November 6, 2001.

A group of investors managed to take over Delta Air Transport, one of SABENA's subsidiaries, and transformed it into SN Brussels Airlines.

The Belgian parliament started a committee to investigate the reasons behind the bankruptcy and the involvement of the Swiss. At the same time, the company's administrator investigated possible legal steps against Swissair, and its successor Swiss International Airlines, the new name of Swissair's subsidiary Crossair.

2006-present

SN Airholding announced on March 31, 2006, that SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express, both owned by the holding will be merged into one company. Also the purchase of 34 new Airbus planes, imposed by the Swiss, was a burden SABENA could not cope with.

SABENA also had the disadvantage that, being a government company for so long, lots of politicians considered them to be an ideal mean to give lucrative management jobs to loyal party-members. There were negotiations with numerous airlines, such as KLM, Air France and British Airways. Minister for Government Companies Rik Daems failed to act properly during the last crisis year of SABENA and prime minister Guy Verhofstadt failed to secure enough assurances from the Swiss when he signed the "Hotel Agreement".

After the bankruptcy, nostalgia abounded in Belgium, especially amongst former staff who tearfully began referring to themselves as "Sabeniens" and wanted to revive the defunct airline, but from a business point of view, the bankruptcy was the only option that made sense.

Sabena's fleet consisted of the following planes at the time of the bankruptcy:

Airbus A319-100 - 15 Planes

Airbus A320-200 - 6 Planes

Airbus A321-200 - 3 Planes

Airbus A330-200 - 6 Planes

Airbus A330-300 - 4 Planes

Airbus A340-200 - 2 Planes

Airbus A340-300 - 2 Planes

Boeing 737-300 - 6 Planes

Boeing 737-500 - 5 Planes

BAe 146 - 6 Planes (Operated by DAT)

Avro RJ100 - 12 Planes (Operated by DAT)

Avro RJ85 - 14 Planes (Operated by DAT)

ATR-72 200 - 2 Planes (Operated by Schreiner Airways)

Dash-8 300 - 4 Planes (Operated by Schreiner Airways)

Chronology

Key Dates:
1923: Sabena founded to promote Belgian civil aviation.
1925: Sabena begins developing African route system.
1947: Brussels-New York service added.
1957: Employment reaches 10,000.
1989: Sabena begins developing its identity as airline of the European Community.
1992: Air France invests as a strategic partner.
1995: SAirGroup acquires 49.5 percent of Sabena's shares after Air France drops out.
1997: Retooled Sabena leads Europe in traffic growth.
1999: Sabena and Swissair ally themselves with American Airlines.

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