Air Zaïre 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 assistance and equipment. Initially, the Congo government had a 65% participation in the airline, Sabena had a 30% holding, and Air Brousse and Sobelair held the balance. Services to Belgium were inaugurated in early 1963, linking Léopoldville with Brussels via Rome, using Boeing 707 equipment operated by Sabena on behalf of the carrier. By 1964 the
Alcazar (airline) Sabena. In addition, they had a strong tie with Northwest Airlines. In 1989, KLM bought 20 percent of the then ailing airline. In 1992, KLM had made a bailout purchase of Northwest, securing a 25 percent ownership of the airline, which is the maximum a foreign airline is allowed to own in a US airline. Swissair cooperated with Delta Air Lines and Singapore Airlines in a triangular cooperation, which was highly valued by the company's management. Delta was significantly larger than the other two US partner airlines, and had a base in New York City, rather than Northwest's hubs in