Sobelair
Encyclopedia
Sobelair was an airline
from Belgium
. It was headquartered in Brussels
(later in Zaventem
) and operated mostly non-scheduled passenger and cargo flights out of Brussels Airport
.
Sobelair was founded as a charter airline on 30 July 1946, originally (only during the initial months) known as Société d'Etude et de Transports Aériens, abbreviated SETA. The first revenue flight using a Douglas DC-3
aircraft, which took place on 15 October of that year, was a flowers transport to Nice
via Paris
. In 1947, scheduled flights from Brussels to Elizabethville
in Belgian Congo
were launched on behalf of several companies in the Belgian colony, which held the majority of the stakes in the company. In 1949, these shares were acquired by Belgian flag carrier
Sabena
, which thus owned 72,29 percent in Sobelair.
When Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
was founded as an independent state in the former Belgian Congo, Sobelair ceased its African service, and concentrated on offering chartered holiday flights to the Mediterranean instead, as well as (between 1957 and 1962) domestic routes using small Cessna 310
airplanes.
Sobelair joined the jet age
in 1971, when the first Caravelle
was acquired second-hand from Sabena. Over the following years, the fleet was further modernized with Boeing 707
aircraft, which stayed until 1981. By then, Sobelair operated a fleet composed exclusively of smaller Boeing 737
airliners. Long haul flights were relaunched only in 1994, using a newly bought Boeing 767-300.
When Swissair
started an alliance with Sabena in 1995, plans were made for a co-operation of the respective charter subsidiaries. Thus, Sobelair went into negotiation with the Swiss subsidiary
of Trans European Airways
in 1996, which turned out to be fruitless. Instead, an agreement was signed with Crossair
. In 1997, Sobelair operated chartered passenger flights from Zurich
to San Francisco and Las Vegas
on behalf of Swissair. In the late 1990s, a charter contract with tour operator Jetair
was signed. In 2001, further agreements with ALM Antillean Airlines and Balair
were secured.
In October 2001, Swissair went bankrupt, which was followed by the demise of partner Sabena in November of the same year, which led to the future of Sobelair becoming uncertain, too. Delta Air Transport
, which the Sabena slots had been transferred to, briefly considered taking over Sobelair's 767s for the re-launch of scheduled passenger flights to Africa (instead, Birdy Airlines
was founded for that purpose), and German tour operator Preussag
went into negotiations concerning a taking-over of the airline, which were dropped again in February 2002.
After having been acquired by a group of investors in June 2002, which led to the launch of scheduled flights on the Brussels-Johannesburg
route, Sobelair was passed on to SN Brussels Airlines
in early 2003, for which it operated charter flights henceforth. This did not lead to an improvement of the financial situation, so that Sobelair had to declare bankruptcy in early January 2004. TUI Travel
placed an offer for taking over Sobelair's aircraft in order to create a Belgian airline subsidiary, provided that creditor protection
would be granted. On 19 January, this measure was rejected, so that Sobelair went out of business and its then approximately 450 employees lost their jobs.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
from Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. It was headquartered in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(later in Zaventem
Zaventem
Zaventem is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the towns of Nossegem, Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, Sterrebeek and Zaventem proper. On January 1, 2006 Zaventem had a total population of 28,651...
) and operated mostly non-scheduled passenger and cargo flights out of Brussels Airport
Brussels Airport
Brussels Airport is an international airport northeast of Brussels, Belgium. The airport is partially in Zaventem and partially in the Diegem area of Machelen, both located in the Flemish Region of Belgium.Brussels Airport currently consists of 54 contact gates, and a total of 109 gates...
.
History
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
aircraft, which took place on 15 October of that year, was a flowers transport to Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
via Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1947, scheduled flights from Brussels to Elizabethville
Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, second only to the nation's capital Kinshasa, and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga Province, lying near the Zambian border...
in Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
were launched on behalf of several companies in the Belgian colony, which held the majority of the stakes in the company. In 1949, these shares were acquired by Belgian flag carrier
Flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transportation company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given country, enjoys preferential rights or privileges, accorded by the government, for international operations. It may be a state-run, state-owned or private but...
Sabena
Sabena
SABENA was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its bankruptcy in 2001, the newly formed SN Brussels Airlines took over part of SABENA's assets in February 2002, which then became Brussels Airlines...
, which thus owned 72,29 percent in Sobelair.
When Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
The Republic of the Congo was an independent republic established following the independence granted to the former colony of the Belgian Congo in 1960...
was founded as an independent state in the former Belgian Congo, Sobelair ceased its African service, and concentrated on offering chartered holiday flights to the Mediterranean instead, as well as (between 1957 and 1962) domestic routes using small Cessna 310
Cessna 310
The Cessna 310 is an American six-seat, low-wing, twin-engined monoplane that was produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the first twin-engined aircraft that Cessna put into production after World War II.-Development:...
airplanes.
Sobelair joined the jet age
Jet age
The Jet Age is a period of history defined by the social change brought about by the advent of large aircraft powered by turbine engines. These aircraft are able to fly much higher, faster, and farther than older piston-powered propliners, making transcontinental and inter-continental travel...
in 1971, when the first Caravelle
Sud Aviation Caravelle
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 . The Caravelle was one of the more successful European first generation jetliners, selling throughout Europe and even penetrating the United States market, with...
was acquired second-hand from Sabena. Over the following years, the fleet was further modernized with Boeing 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
aircraft, which stayed until 1981. By then, Sobelair operated a fleet composed exclusively of smaller Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
airliners. Long haul flights were relaunched only in 1994, using a newly bought Boeing 767-300.
When Swissair
Swissair
Swissair AG was the former national airline of Switzerland.It was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero , in 1931...
started an alliance with Sabena in 1995, plans were made for a co-operation of the respective charter subsidiaries. Thus, Sobelair went into negotiation with the Swiss subsidiary
EasyJet Switzerland
EasyJet Switzerland SA is a low-cost airline based in Meyrin, Switzerland, operating scheduled flights as an EasyJet franchise out of Geneva Cointrin International Airport and Basel-Mulhouse International Airport....
of Trans European Airways
Trans European Airways
Trans European Airways is a now defunct airline that had its head office in Building 117 on the grounds of Melsbroek Airport in Zaventem, Belgium.- History :...
in 1996, which turned out to be fruitless. Instead, an agreement was signed with Crossair
Crossair
Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport was a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland...
. In 1997, Sobelair operated chartered passenger flights from Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
to San Francisco and Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
on behalf of Swissair. In the late 1990s, a charter contract with tour operator Jetair
Jetairfly
Jetairfly is a Belgian airline with its headquarters in Ostend, Belgium and its centre of flight operations in Zaventem, Belgium. It operates scheduled passenger flights...
was signed. In 2001, further agreements with ALM Antillean Airlines and Balair
Balair
Balair was a Swiss airline that became BalairCTA when it merged with CTA/Compagnie de Transport Aerien in 1993. Balair had its headquarters in Basel.-Company history:...
were secured.
In October 2001, Swissair went bankrupt, which was followed by the demise of partner Sabena in November of the same year, which led to the future of Sobelair becoming uncertain, too. Delta Air Transport
Delta Air Transport
Delta Air Transport was an airline headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, operating scheduled and chartered flights, mostly on short-haul routes...
, which the Sabena slots had been transferred to, briefly considered taking over Sobelair's 767s for the re-launch of scheduled passenger flights to Africa (instead, Birdy Airlines
Birdy Airlines
Birdy Airlines was an airline based in Belgium that offered long-haul flights using a fleet of three Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The airline was founded in 2002 and ceased its operations in 2004 when it was merged into SN Brussels Airlines....
was founded for that purpose), and German tour operator Preussag
Preussag
Preussag AG was a German mining company which later operated in a variety of industries. It was incorporated on October 9, 1923 as Preußische Bergwerks- und Hütten-Aktiengesellschaft ....
went into negotiations concerning a taking-over of the airline, which were dropped again in February 2002.
After having been acquired by a group of investors in June 2002, which led to the launch of scheduled flights on the Brussels-Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
route, Sobelair was passed on to SN Brussels Airlines
SN Brussels Airlines
SN Brussels Airlines was a national airline of Belgium, which mainly operated from Brussels Airport. SNBA was the trading name of the Belgian airline Delta Air Transport. SNBA was a full-service airline, connecting Brussels with the rest of Europe. It also flew to Africa, continuing Sabena's...
in early 2003, for which it operated charter flights henceforth. This did not lead to an improvement of the financial situation, so that Sobelair had to declare bankruptcy in early January 2004. TUI Travel
TUI Travel
TUI Travel PLC is a FTSE 250 international leisure travel group listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was formed on 3 September 2007 by the merger of First Choice Holidays PLC and the Tourism Division of TUI AG, which owns 55.09% of the company, operating in 180 countries and serving 30m...
placed an offer for taking over Sobelair's aircraft in order to create a Belgian airline subsidiary, provided that creditor protection
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
would be granted. On 19 January, this measure was rejected, so that Sobelair went out of business and its then approximately 450 employees lost their jobs.
Fleet
Over the nearly 60 years of its existence, Sobelair operated the following aircraft types:| Aircraft | Introduced | Retired | Number in fleet upon closure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A300 Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS... |
|||
| Boeing 707 Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on... |
|||
| Boeing 720 Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is a four-engine narrow-body short- to medium-range passenger jet airliner. Developed by Boeing in the late 1950s from the Boeing 707, the 720 has a shorter fuselage and less range... |
|||
| Boeing 727 Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced... |
|||
| Boeing 737-200 | |||
| Boeing 737-300 | |||
| Boeing 737-400 | |||
| Boeing 737-800 | |||
| Boeing 767-300 | |||
| Cessna 310 Cessna 310 The Cessna 310 is an American six-seat, low-wing, twin-engined monoplane that was produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the first twin-engined aircraft that Cessna put into production after World War II.-Development:... |
|||
| Douglas DC-3 Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made... |
|||
| Douglas DC-4 Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role... |
|||
| Douglas DC-6 Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range... |
|||
| Douglas DC-10 | |||
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | |||
| Sud Aviation Caravelle Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 . The Caravelle was one of the more successful European first generation jetliners, selling throughout Europe and even penetrating the United States market, with... |
|||
Accidents and incidents
- Sobelair suffered one fatal accident, which occurred on 22 April 1960. A Douglas C-54 Skymaster of the airline, registeredAircraft registrationAn aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
OO-SBL, crashed into a mountain slope (a so called controlled flight into terrainControlled flight into terrainControlled flight into terrain describes an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, water, or an obstacle. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s...
) whilst approaching an airfield in BuniaBuniaBunia is a city in Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the headquarters of Ituri Interim Administration in the Ituri region of Orientale Province....
, then Belgian CongoBelgian CongoThe Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
. All 28 passengers and the seven crew members that had been on the chartered flight from CairoCairoCairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
lost their lives. - On 20 December 1970, a Sobelair Douglas DC-6Douglas DC-6The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...
(registered OO-CTL) was damaged beyond repair when it ran off the runway at Málaga AirportMálaga AirportMálaga Airport , also known as Malaga Costa Del Sol Airport and Pablo Ruiz Picasso Airport, is the fourth busiest airport in Spain after Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. It is an important airport for Spanish tourism as it is the main international airport serving the Costa Del Sol....
. The cargo flight with seven occupants had had to perform an emergency landing at the airport in bad weather conditions because the left main landing gear could not be extended due to a hydraulic problem. - On 29 March 1981, an engine fire occurred with a Sobelair Boeing 707Boeing 707The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
(registered OO-SJA) shortly after take-off from Brussels AirportBrussels AirportBrussels Airport is an international airport northeast of Brussels, Belgium. The airport is partially in Zaventem and partially in the Diegem area of Machelen, both located in the Flemish Region of Belgium.Brussels Airport currently consists of 54 contact gates, and a total of 109 gates...
. The pilots returned to the airport and had to execute an emergeny landing. As there had not been time to dump fuel, the airplane was too heavy, and was deliberately steered off the runway in order not to overshoot it, during which it suffered extensive damage. The 109 passengers and eight crew members survived the accident.
External links
- Official website (archivedWeb archivingWeb archiving is the process of collecting portions of the World Wide Web and ensuring the collection is preserved in an archive, such as an archive site, for future researchers, historians, and the public. Due to the massive size of the Web, web archivists typically employ web crawlers for...
)