Editing Sabena (section)

====Belgian Congo====
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2017}}
[[File:AL79-123 Refueling at Zinder Niger (14284829346).jpg|thumb|A [[Fokker F.VII]] in Sabena colours]]
When Sabena was created, the airline was partly funded by Belgians in the [[Belgian Congo]] [[colony]] who had lost their air service, an experimental passenger and cargo company ([[Ligne Aerienne du Roi Albert|LARA]]) between [[Léopoldville]], [[Lisala]], and [[Kisangani|Stanleyville]] a year earlier. They expected the new Belgian national airline to fill this gap. On 12 February 1925, Sabena aviators [[Edmond Thieffry]], Léopold Roger and Joseph De Brycker succeeded in the feat of flying their Handley Page W8 F biplane from [[Brussels]], capital of Belgium, to [[Kinshasa|Léopoldville]] (now Kinshasa), capital of the [[Belgian Congo]], pioneering a long haul route for passengers traveling between Europe and Africa, and [[Albert I of Belgium|King Albert]]'s daughter, [[Marie-José of Belgium|Princess Marie-José]] flew the route on April 3.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.air-journal.fr/2011-04-03-le-3-avril-1925-dans-le-ciel-arrivee-du-princesse-marie-jose-a-leopoldville-527640.html|title=Le 3 avril 1925 dans le ciel : Arrivée du Princesse Marie-José à Léopoldville (April 3, 1925 in the sky: Arrival of Princess Marie-José in Léopoldville) |website=air-journal.fr.}}.</ref> Throughout its history, Sabena had a long tradition of service to African destinations and for a long time, these were the only profitable routes served by the airline.

Sabena used land planes for its Congo operations and a program of aerodrome construction was initiated in the Congo. This was finished in 1926 and Sabena immediately began flights within the Belgian colony, the main route being [[Boma, Kongo Central|Boma]]-[[Léopoldville]]-[[Élisabethville]], a 2,288&nbsp;km (1,422&nbsp;mi) route over dense [[jungle]]. First, flights were operated with [[De Havilland DH.50]]s, although these were quickly replaced by the larger [[Handley Page Type W|Handley Page W.8f]] which had three engines and offered ten seats.

By 1931 Sabena's fleet, including the aircraft used on the Congo network, totalled 43 aircraft. Its mainstay type was the [[Fokker F.VII]]B with a lesser number of smaller Fokker VIIA and 14 Handley-Page types. It also flew British [[Westland IV|Westland Wessex]] aircraft.

Sabena occasionally flew to tropical Africa, Belgium's Congo colony, but mostly these aircraft were shipped out. There was no direct flight yet between Belgium and the colony. As the 1930s progressed, Sabena cooperated with [[Air France]] and [[Deutsche Luft Hansa]], which also had interests in routes to destinations across Africa.

Sabena's first long-haul flight to the Congo occurred on 12 February 1935 and took five and a half days, for which Sabena used a Fokker F-VII/3m aircraft. The following year, Sabena purchased the [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.73]] airliner. With a speed of 300&nbsp;km/h (200&nbsp;mph), it reduced the journey time to only four days, and the Sabena service ran on alternate weeks to an [[Air Afrique]] service.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}
[[File:Savoia Marchetti S.73.jpg|thumb|A [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.73]] from Sabena, similar to the one that crashed in the [[1935 SABENA Savoia-Marchetti S.73 crash|1935 crash]].]]