SNETA 7 of SNETA's 23 airplanes. By 1 June 1922, enough information was gathered and all experimental flights were suspended. This cleared the way to start up a real Belgian commercial operator, SABENA, which came into being on 23 May 1923 and into which SNETA merged. SNETA The Syndicat national d'Etude des Transports Aériens ("National Union of Study of Aerial Transport"), known by its acronym SNETA, was a Belgian airline which operated from 1919 to 1923 in order to pioneer commercial aviation in Belgium. In 1923 it ceased operations and merged into the newly founded national carrier SABENA. The company was
Air Zaïre utilise its traffic rights and operate international flights. Sabena, which was partnered with Swissair and South African investors, and was initially offered a controlling 51% stake, purchased a 49.5% stake for a reported BFr100 million; the government would hold the controlling 50.5% stake. The airline was reorganised into Lignes Aériennes Congolaises, which began flights in 1997. Air Zaïre Air Zaïre was the national airline of Zaire. Its head office was located on the grounds of N'djili Airport in Kinshasa. "Air Congo" was originally formed in June 1961 as the national airline of the Congolese Republic, with Sabena providing both technical