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
Eritrean Airlines Eritrean Airlines Eritrean Airlines, shortened to Eritrean, is the national airline of Eritrea. Based at Asmara International Airport, it is wholly owned by the government of Eritrea. Scheduled service had been discontinued since 2008, and the airline operated only a few hajj flights every year. The airline was restarted under new management in 2011 and in 2011, Nasair, a privately owned company, merged with government-owned Eritrean Airlines, to form Nasair Eritrea. Eritrean Airlines has been banned from flying into the European Union since December 2012. The airline was nominally established in , serving as the ground handling agent at Asmara