Sabena Boeing 747s with four-engined Airbus A340. After the liberalisation of the airline industry throughout Europe and the economic consequences of the Gulf War, the Belgian government, the main shareholder of the company, realized that Sabena had little chance of surviving on its own in this very competitive market, and began searching for a suitable partner. Sabena remained in a poor financial state, and year after year the Belgian government had to cover losses, however, it was however prevented from providing new funds due to EU State Aid rules. Around 1987, SAS tried to merge with the carrier, but the merger
Cimber (airline) Cimber (airline) Cimber A/S was a Danish airline headquartered in Sønderborg and based at Copenhagen Airport. It flies exclusively for Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) on a wet lease (ACMI) contract. Cimber has been owned by CityJet since early 2017 and was previously a subsidiary of SAS. Cimber Sterling went bankrupt on 3 May 2012. At that point, the airline had been flying to up to 30 destinations daily, primarily in Northern and Eastern Europe from Copenhagen Airport, on behalf of Scandinavian Airlines, with four Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft. This arrangement was extended by the curator, law firm Kromann Reumert, to 16 May,