Expansion in Europe and Africa

The purchase of the Handley Page W.8 models gave SABENA the chance to improve its african services. The vast majority of the new airliners were shipped to Africa into crates but one pioneer, named Edmond Thieffry, decided to try delivering one of them flying from Europe to colonial Congo's capital, Leopoldville (nowadays Kinshasa).

Thieffry was a former WW1 ace with 10 confirmed kills, and managed to form a crew with a second pilot, Leopold Roger, and Jed de Bruycker, an experienced technician.

The team took off from Bruxelles on 25 February 1925, on a W.8e named Princesse Marie-José.

The flight plan was set to take them first to Marseille, and then crossing the Mediterranean reaching Oran. From there they stop in Colomb-Bechar, Gao, Fort Lamy, Bangui, Coquilhatville. On 3 April, the Princess Marie-José made a triumphant landing into Leopoldville. Due to weather conditions and mechanical problems the journey took 51 days, but the actual flying hours were only 75.

Two months later, on 6 June, SABENA started a regular service route to Luebo, which was later extended to Ngule, then Elisabethville and finally to the port of Boma. In less than two years, the Belgians managed to develop a wide air network within the border of their colony.

In Europe, SABENA was steadily developing its connections, opening the new Bruxelles-London route, which quickly became the most important commercial sector for the company. 

The airline's expansion was not only limited to the United Kingdom: Koln, Dusseldorf, Essen and Hamburg were served as well, and on 14 April 1930 SABENA started its second, nightly service to London.

A new contract was signed with Fokker for delivery of the new F.VII-3m, one of the first modern commercial airliners. SABCA was once again chosen for licensed production, and from 1929 to 1943 the Belgian airline operated 23 of these three-engined machines,  seven of which in Africa.

The late 20s and early 30s had seen a development of services in Europe and within the african territories. What was now needed was a direct connection between Belgium and Africa. On 23 February 1935 Prosper Cocquyt, Jean Schoonbroodt and Fernand Maupertuis took off in a Fokker F.VIIB-3m.

The aicraft was christened "Edmond Thieffry", and left Bruxelles following exactly the same route flown by the pioneering Thieffry 10 years before. They reached Leopoldville after 5 days, opening a weekly connection between the Belgian capital and Congo.

Thieffry's legacy and achievement were astonishing: not only he had managed, 10 years earlier, to deliver an aircraft from Europe to Central Africa, but he had also done it finding the perfect commercial route that could be used.

Jean Schoonbroodt co-pilot, Prosper Cocquyt pilot, Fernand Maupertuis marconist.

The final and most important step in SABENA's development came in 1935, when the Savoia Marchetti S.73 and the Junkers Ju 52 were purchased.

The Italian aicraft was powered by 600 hp Gnome-Rhone Mistral 9k, could carry 18 passengers and was able to reach a cruise speed of 290 km/h (180 mph). Performance was not achieved at the cost of passenger comfort, as the S.73 was the first airplane in the world equipped with a wine chiller! In 1938, the enhanced S.83 was bought as well.

Savoia Marchetti S.73

The Junkers Ju 52 was the first all-metal civilian aircraft built, and was rugged enough to operate from any airstrip available, from concrete to mud and sand.

However, the second half of the 1930s saw war clouds gathering on the horizon in Europe. The Prague route had to be stopped in March 1939, way before the opening of hostilities.

On 3 September 1939, United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany: within 10 days all SABENA flights were stopped. The situation remained uncertain for the whole autumn and winter; African routes were reopened, but only from Marseille. The passengers had to be brought to southern France by train, and then boarded onto white-painted S.83, with black"Belgique" insignia painted on the fuselage.

British flights were also resumed at the end of 1939, flying bright orange-painted machines with the same black "Belgique" markings.

Everything changed on 10 May 1940: the Germans invaded Belgium and the Low Countries, quickly defeating these two small but proud countries. Their respective airlines, KLM and SABENA followed the same destiny and went through many years of subjugation and misery.

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