Air Zaïre right to declare a Zairean company bankrupt and threatened to close Sabena's office in Kinshasa in retaliation. In response, the Belgian government offered the bankrupt carrier's landing rights to Scibe Airlift, an airline which was owned by a Mobutu family member. In 1998, it was reported that the airline had a total debt of BFr1.5 billion, including 700 million which was for social liabilities. After the collapse of Air Zaïre, Sabena entered into a partnership with the Zairean government to create a new airline to be called New Air Zaïre. The new airline would operate domestic services, whilst Sabena would
Sabena Flight Academy operation. In 2004, the school was sold to two former managers of Sabena and became the Sabena Flight Academy. It was finally absorbed in 2008 by the Canadian group CAE. The acquisition of SFA by CAE was conducted as part of a larger program to complete a global training network: the CAE Global Academy. The school has two subsidiaries: To gain a place on the course it's necessary to complete an assessment at Sabena Flight Academy. The assessment is designed to test candidates: If successful in completing the assessment to the necessary standard then applicants are welcomed to join the