Sabena Boeing 747s with four-engined Airbus A340. After the liberalisation of the airline industry throughout Europe and the economic consequences of the Gulf War, the Belgian government, the main shareholder of the company, realized that Sabena had little chance of surviving on its own in this very competitive market, and began searching for a suitable partner. Sabena remained in a poor financial state, and year after year the Belgian government had to cover losses, however, it was however prevented from providing new funds due to EU State Aid rules. Around 1987, SAS tried to merge with the carrier, but the merger
LOT Polish Airlines was a result of his government's policy. He also accused the previous Civic Platform government of leading the airline to either bankruptcy or "accelerated privatisation". In August 2018, the Croatian government proposed that LOT take over their national airline, Croatia Airlines. The Romanian national airline, TAROM, is also interested in cooperation or merger with LOT. Polish Airlines LOT has a dense European network in addition to flights in Asia, the Middle East and North America. LOT Polish Airlines codeshares with the following airlines: As of December 2018, the LOT Polish Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft: • On 8