Till Death Do Us Part
In early 2002, I picked up a travel catalogue while waiting for a friend and was surprised to see a joint advertisement by Swissair and Sabena Belgian World Airlines. Surprising because by the time this travel brochure was released, both Swissair and Sabena had already grounded their fleet and gone bankrupt in October and November 2001.
Several times I tossed out the magazine to the recycling box but each time I rescued it again just because of this ad.
Back in 1995, Swissair embarked on a major international invesment plan and bought a 49% stake in Belgium's flag carrier Sabena in 1995. The love affair between Swissair and Sabena turned out fatal, to both, however. When air travel fell off the cliff after September 11, Swissair no longer had the cash to service its Swiss Franc (CHF) 12.5-billion debt and grounded all flights on 2001-10-02, stranding thousands of passengers. Sabena also became bankrupt one month later in November 2001.
Sabena, by the way, stands for Société Anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne, or the Belgian Aerial Navigation Development Company Limited.
Till Death Do Us Part
In early 2002, I picked up a travel catalogue while waiting for a friend and was surprised to see a joint advertisement by Swissair and Sabena Belgian World Airlines. Surprising because by the time this travel brochure was released, both Swissair and Sabena had already grounded their fleet and gone bankrupt in October and November 2001.
Several times I tossed out the magazine to the recycling box but each time I rescued it again just because of this ad.
Back in 1995, Swissair embarked on a major international invesment plan and bought a 49% stake in Belgium's flag carrier Sabena in 1995. The love affair between Swissair and Sabena turned out fatal, to both, however. When air travel fell off the cliff after September 11, Swissair no longer had the cash to service its Swiss Franc (CHF) 12.5-billion debt and grounded all flights on 2001-10-02, stranding thousands of passengers. Sabena also became bankrupt one month later in November 2001.
Sabena, by the way, stands for Société Anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne, or the Belgian Aerial Navigation Development Company Limited.