Sabena followed on 1 May 1929 via Antwerp, Düsseldorf, and Essen. When Sabena was created, the airline was partly funded by Belgians in the Belgian Congo colony who lost their air service, an experimental passenger and cargo company (LARA) between Léopoldville, Lisala, and Stanleyville a year earlier and who expected the new Belgian national airline to fill this gap. On 12 February 1925, Sabena pioneered a long haul across Africa to Leopoldville, capital of the Belgian Congo. Throughout its history, Sabena had a long tradition of service to African destinations and for a long time these were the only profitable routes
Gadair European Airlines Gadair European Airlines Gadair European Airlines was an airline based in Madrid, Spain. It was operating aircraft on ACMI leases for services to five continents. A number of changes of plan have been made, including a switch to Bahrain as the main hub. The airline originally planned to launch operations on 10 April 2006 using Boeing 767-200ER aircraft on ACMI leases, but delays in obtaining the necessary licences mean that the launch date was delayed to June 2007. The airline was owned by Grupo AISA and Santiago Sanchez Marin. In 2007 new shareholders entered in a capital increase, that resulted