Belgian aviation: from Sabena to Brussels Airlines

More than 102 years ago, more precisely on May 23rd, 1923, the Societé anonyme belge d’Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne, known by its acronym Sabena, was founded by the Belgian government. Its first commercial flight took place on June 1st, 1923, connecting Brussels and London via Ostend. The airline later expanded its operations in Europe, reaching France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland before the 1930s.

In addition to the European footprint in its early days, the idea of starting flights to Africa was always on the table, operating within its colonies. By February 1925, Sabena aviators traveled to Léopoldville (now Kinshasa), capital of the Belgian Congo, with the aim of launching flights in the country (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The colony had lost its own airline shortly before, and Sabena was expected to take over that service.

With the completion of airfield construction in the Belgian Congo, Sabena began operating in the colony in 1926 with the Boma-Léopoldville-Élisabethville route, initially using De Havilland DH.50 aircraft, and shortly thereafter introducing the Handley Page W.8f aircraft.

Sabena’s first regular long-haul flight between Belgium and the Belgian Congo occurred on February 12th, 1935, operated by a Fokker F-VII/3m, lasting about a week. Later, the airline added Savoia-Marchetti SM.73 aircraft to its fleet, which were faster than the Fokkers, thus reducing the trip to around four days.

Over the years, Sabena further strengthened its connectivity between Brussels and Africa, including flights to Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Bamako, Banjul, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Cape Town, Conakry, Cotonou, Dakar, Dar-es-Salaam, Douala, Entebbe, Freetown, Johannesburg, Kano, Kigali, Kilimanjaro, Kinshasa, Lagos, Libreville, Lome, Monrovia, Nairobi, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou, and Yaounde.

The 9/11 attacks worsened the financial problems that Sabena had been experiencing during the last few years. It filed for legal protection against its creditors in early October 2001 and went into liquidation on November 6th, 2001.

November 7th, 2001, marked the last flight in Sabena’s history, operated by the Airbus A340 with registration OO-SCZ, serving the Abidjan-Cotonou-Brussels route. Thus, after 78 years, the Belgian flag carrier ceased operations.

Fifteen years before bankruptcy, Sabena acquired a 49% stake in DAT, also known as Delta Air Transport, a Belgian airline, gradually increasing its stake until it acquired the carrier completely in mid-1990.

On November 10th, 2001, only three days following Sabena’s closure, DAT Belgian Regional Airline was able to resume operations after receiving all of Sabena’s slots at Brussels Airport, allowing it to maintain its European network. In 2002, the airline was relaunched as SN Brussels Airlines, which in 2007 became Brussels Airlines following its merger with Virgin Express. 

Brussels Airlines (SN/BEL) is Belgium’s flag carrier and the country’s largest airline, offering flights within Europe as well as to Africa, the United States, and Asia. Continuing the legacy of the former Sabena, Brussels Airlines operates between Belgium and Africa, but with a smaller network of destinations, flights, and weekly frequencies.

Currently, according to our database, Brussels Airlines serves Abidjan, Accra, Banjul, Bujumbura, Conakry, Cotonou, Dakar, Douala, Entebbe, Freetown, Hurghada, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lome, Monrovia, Nairobi, Ouagadougou, and Yaounde, operated mainly through triangular routes.

Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda are the African countries in the Brussels Airlines network, which, as we announced in the October monthly route report, will welcome a new addition in 2026.

Effective June 24th, 2026, the Belgian carrier will launch flights to a new destination, as well as a new country: Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

Brussels Airlines will operate the Brussels – Kilimanjaro – Nairobi – Brussels triangular route twice a week, using Airbus A330-300 aircraft configured with 30 seats in Business, 21 seats in Premium Economy, and 244 seats in Economy, for a total of 295 seats.

Wednesday and Saturday

Sabena used to operate flights to Kilimanjaro until late 1980s.

Beyond Africa, Brussels Airlines has a major hub in the country’s capital, providing several routes within Europe by narrow-body aircraft, and one route to Asia, another to the Middle East, and another to America.

Its fleet consists entirely of Airbus aircraft, comprising 14 Airbus A319-100s, 16 Airbus A320-200s, 5 Airbus A320neo, and 11 Airbus A330-300s, totaling 46 aircraft. The airline will continue to add brand new A320neo aircraft, with the objective to replace the A319 and A320-200, which are on average 20 years old.

Brussels Airlines is part of one of Europe’s largest groups, the Lufthansa Group, which also includes AeroLogic, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Discover Airlines, Edelweiss, Eurowings, ITA, SunExpress, and Swiss, along with Lufthansa.

Cover photo: © Martin Nimmervoll – JetPhotos (Brussels Zaventem Int’l Airport – EBBR, Belgium)