SN Brussels? Let’s go back to Sabena
Back to Forum- This topic has 29 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 17 Mar 2012
at 14:23 by RichHI1.
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DisgustedofSwieqiParticipantTom
Let me draw you a picture to explain why the grizzled old travellers on here have a negative reaction to the name Sabena.
Sabena was cr*p, rubbish, unpleasant, unreliable, arrogant, inefficient, didn’t give a sh*t etc… Along with the Norwegian Blue parrot, it has gone to a better place.
Let’s face it, Brussels attracts a very big income stream to Belgium, NATO, EC and the associated organizations etc.
So, IMHO, it is entirely appropriate that the airline of Belgium is named Brussels Airlines, as without all this income stream, Belgium would be absolutely b*ggered.
27 Jan 2012
at 05:59
dutchyankeeParticipant@DoS, 100% with you on this. I live in Flanders and in Holland, and can tell you, quite frankly, Belgium is pretty b*ggered even with the EU and NATO business coming in, as the nations represented do not pay any taxes to the Belgium government. Sure a number of companies want to base themselves here to be close to the ‘action’ or should I say ‘in-action,’ but with the social costs rising, personal taxes being the second highest in Europe, Belgium is certainly not a poster child for prosperity. Sabena was a prime case in point. In over 70 years of history Sabena had only one profitable year, and that was when Swissair owned it. It was a complete parastatal, flying the flag to destinations simply for that reason, most of their long haul routes (with the exception of Africa) were completely unsustainable, and yet pride and the government forced them to continue. Sabena stood for Société Autonyme Belge d’Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne (Belgian company for exploiting aerial navigation), and that name should now RIP. Whilst Brussels Airlines is not great, and the name is not exactly original, it certainly ‘does what it says on the tin’, so to speak!
27 Jan 2012
at 07:24
LPPSKrisflyerParticipantIf it needs a new name how about Air Belgium or Belgian Airlines? Brussels Airlines is very parochial. OTOH, Lufthansa could just rename the whole operation European World Airways!
27 Jan 2012
at 08:07
TiredOldHackParticipant“Lufthansa could just rename the whole operation European World Airways”
and bring a few Junkers 52s out of retirement.
27 Jan 2012
at 09:03
LuganoPirateParticipantThat made me laugh Tired! Can you imagine the faces of the waiting line of pinstripes mingling with the great unwashed as they prepare to board the Iron Annie’s 😉
27 Jan 2012
at 09:40
TiredOldHackParticipantI only mention the Tante Ju because I watched one on finals for Koln/Bonn from a train window, a few years ago. I was in Koln for the ANUGA food fair and was on my way back to my hotel in nearby Konigswinter. The line runs close to the airport.
Anyway, I was enthralled because I’d never seen a 52 in the air before, and the train was absolutely keeping pace with it (or vice versa…) for a few minutes and we weren’t going fast. I later Googled the landing speed of the 52, and discovered it was something like 55 knots! Take-off speed wasn’t much more, either.
Anyway, next day I was back at the show and bumped into a contact who I knew was an old classic transport freak, as I am, and mentioned this. His eyes lit up. Apparently they have a small flight of Ju52s on the Lufthansa strength and they do joy-rides and small local flights with them. The pilots are all LH Boeing 747 pilots and they fight for the chance to fly the old Tante Jus, because they love them.
“I bought my father a flight for his birthday last year,” he beamed. “It was only about 120 euros. He had not been in a Ju52 for many years.”
“Oh, when was the last time?”
“When he jumped out of one into Norway in 1940.”
Splendid stuff.
27 Jan 2012
at 11:57
skyguy79ParticipantBy the way, SN is called Brussels Airlines since 2008 ! I really also believe that Sabena can come back with a completely reenrgised team and spirit !
Look at the following page to see SN’s rich heritage : http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0PDodd33iZPTxUAHvdNBQx.?p=sabena+&fr=yfp-t-702&ei=utf-8&n=30&x=wrt
Phillipine Airlines , Sri Lankan ( Air Lanka ) and Kenya Airways also had poor reputations but look at how they turned their fortunes around.
I doubt Sabena’s services were ever worse than US carrier’s domestic flybus service !
I remember being at JFK in summer 2000 and seeing many blue tailed Sabena aircrafts that looked nothing short of stunning !
Maybe a facebook campaign can be started to bring the name back ?
30 Jan 2012
at 18:19
nathanBAGOLDParticipanti agree. today’s SN is better then most of the crap we get in the USA from Delta, AA, UA/CO, US. Bring back Sabena !!!! theya hv one of the richest heritages in the aviation !
30 Jan 2012
at 18:50
Binman62ParticipantFlew Sabena once in late 80’s.
Overriding memory however was the firms appearance on the very first fly on the wall documentary about Heathrow and the daily goings on.
That programme, which featured the airlines inept airport manager, trying to deal with disrupted passengers, in the full glare of TV cameras, did more to destroy them than almost any other event. It was toe curlingly awful.
30 Jan 2012
at 18:52
skyguy79ParticipantLooks like Sabena’s twin sister Sabona is very much alive and well in the guise of Sabona of London!!
23 Feb 2012
at 12:00
ChrisBuda82ParticipantSN Brussels sounds like a low cost airline not class to the name!
23 Feb 2012
at 12:23
DisgustedofSwieqiParticipant“I really also believe that Sabena can come back with a completely reenrgised team and spirit ! “
It’s as likely that Shergar will come back to win the derby 🙂
23 Feb 2012
at 12:46
skyguy79ParticipantSalford Software seem to also use a variation of the old Sabena logo
17 Mar 2012
at 12:22 -
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