Spike and Suzy and Suzy happen in real countries all over the world, with Belgium (their home country) as main focus for many stories. While in the early stories large distances were usually traveled using the fictitious "Gyronef", an experimental helicopter devised by professor Barabas, starting from the 1960s all air travel is provided by the Dutch national airline KLM, making it an early and prominent example of product placement in European comics. Vandersteen chose KLM over the Belgian national airline SABENA because of his friendship with Ron Winderink, PR manager at KLM. Willy Vandersteen created "Suske en Wiske", beginning publication in "De
Sabena technics Sabena technics Created in 1968, Sabena technics is an independent MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) provider offering services to civil and military aircraft operators. 1968: Founding of Touraine Air Transport by Michel Marchais The air transport company Touraine Air Transport (TAT) was born in 1968 thanks to Michel Marchais (father of Rodolphe Marchais), a pioneer in the developments which were to lead the way in the air transport sector. TAT was to become the first independent regional company in Europe. TAT let go of its airline company in 1996 to focus on industrial activities: aircraft maintenance (TAT Industries) and leasing