SABCA S.XII SABCA S.XII The S.A.B.C.A. S.XII or S.A.B.C.A S.12 was a four-passenger light transport aircraft with three engines and a high wing, built in Belgium early in the 1930s. The SABCA S.XII (or S.12) was a response to a July 1930 Belgian government call and funding for an all-Belgian multi-engine aircraft able to carry a useful load of between . This was prompted by the purchase that summer by the national airline, SABENA, of four Westland Wessex trimotors. Speed, range and cabin minimum dimensions were specified, a first flight before October 1930 was required and two examples were to be built.
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