Sabena was once the flag carrier of Belgium and it had a very long and storied history. Founded on 23 May 1923, its first flight took place on 1 July of the same year from Brussels to London via Ostend. Since the country had African colonies, the new airline began flying there from 12 February 1925, all the way to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa).
Over the years, the airline operated piston engine types such as the Douglas DC-4, followed by the Douglas DC-6 and Douglas DC-7, before switching suppliers and ordering the Boeing 707. For the widebody era, they went with both the Boeing 747 and the Douglas DC-10, eventually operating a fleet of mainly Airbus aircraft.
Sabena Video
Following on from the last video about the original Boeing 747, this time we head to Europe for a look at Sabena. This video runs for under five minutes, so it’s quick and straight to the point.
What is interesting is that the airline was chronically loss making and then they permitted Swissair to run it. In the end, both Swissair and Sabena both collapsed due to numerous internal and external factors.
Overall Thoughts
The end for Sabena came on 7 November 2001, ending the storied history of the airline. One thing I remember about the airline is that they had a lounge on their Boeing 747 upper decks, all the way through to the 1990s! Most other airlines had switched these to passenger seats long beforehand, so maybe that is just one example of their inefficiency.
Today, Brussels Airlines is their successor flying to both European and overseas destinations. However, they are wholly owned by the Lufthansa Group, as are several airlines in Europe.
Did you ever fly Sabena? What were they like as an airline from a passenger perspective? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Udo K. Haafke on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
I flew twice with Sabrina economy class twice from London to Abudhabi in 1986 and they used to charge 2 pounds to hire a headset hehe
Sounds steep… but I guess it was a captive audience!!
Well, I worked for Sabena. I worked in Sabena House London, their UK HQ. OMG, did they smoke a lot. I actually ended indoor smoking in that building, it was too much. They were awfully nice about it, after I fought them and won :-). Honestly, everyone, down to the London boss was absolutely lovely. I remember he use to have that invitation book with all the models posing nude on his coffee table. I use to hang out in his office from time to time (I do not recall why).
I remember Club class LHR-BRU (full meal service). I flew mainly BRU-JFK-BRU on the 747-300s in J class upstairs, and the service, food, and amenity kits were incredible.
As I recall, people loved Sabena, and went out of their way to fly them! A gem of an airline in the premium cabins.
Fun story. There was going to be a strike at noon one day in BRU, and our departure was 1145/50ish The captain was adamant we were going to make it out. We had 3 mins to get to the runway, and he was going to be off in 4 mins and clear airspace shortly after. we literally hit that taxiway at top speed, he turned that jumbo onto the runway and rocketed off. Surreal, smooth, and cool….we cleared the country airspace at 1159am, and we headed for the East Coast. :-).
There was a lot of service to Africa, ALOT! JFK, ATL (some type of weird DL codeshare at one point) where we even had DL FA’s on the plane, and DL amenity kits (horrible)
I was a kid (22), but it was a time I treasured. Was sad to hear of their demise, and it’s a pity to see what the country now calls its national carrier. Oh well. I never flew Economy, but Club and Business were top-notch. I hear First was over the top, but actually never bothered to try it.
Sounds like an amazing time you had working for the airline. Thanks very much for sharing those memories. Pretty cool all round!!
Flew on Sabena a little more than 30 years ago. It was 2 737-200 flights to and from LHR. They were ok. That was before the Channel Tunnel.
I believe their costs were high leading to their demise.
Yes, I think you’re right there. Nice you got to fly with them though!
SABENA = Such A Bad Experience Never Again
I remember this alternate acronym! BOAC had a pretty good one too – Better on a Camel.