Sabena Flight Academy a 'frozen' (becoming unfrozen when the candidate has completed 1500 hours in a multi-pilot environment) Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). The origins of the creation of a school providing training for future airline pilots were in 1953, when the Belgian government, which owned the aircraft, contracted the operation thereof to Sabena under the name "École d’aviation civile" (EAC). The theoretical and flight training parts were conducted at the airfield of Grimbergen in a building which no longer exists. Basic training was done using de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moths, replaced in 1968 by Siai Marchetti SF260s, while advanced training was entrusted
Sabena Tutsis and moderate Hutus at the Hôtel des Mille Collines of Kigali, saving them from being slaughtered by the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide (this is depicted in the motion picture "Hotel Rwanda"). In March and April 1998 two McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 aircraft, both leased from CityBird, joined the fleet and such long-haul destinations as Newark, Montreal and São Paulo were (re)introduced. 1999 saw new colours introduced to the fleet, beginning with an Airbus A340. One of the latest fleet types that Sabena introduced, right after the A321 and A320 was the A319 which saw service in 2000. These new