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  • Jan 20th, 2004
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A Belgian court on Monday declared charter airline Sobelair bankrupt, ending months of efforts by the struggling carrier to stay aloft, court officials said.

The former subsidiary of national airline Sabena - which itself went bankrupt in November 2001 - applied earlier this month for court protection from its creditors to give it time to draw up a recovery plan.

But the Brussels commercial court refused the request and is due to appoint an administrator to oversee the sale of the company's assets, said a court spokesman.

Sobelair has a fleet of 12 aircraft and employs some 480 people. About 65 percent of its business is provided by Belgian travel agents Jetair, a subsidiary of Germany's TUI.

Earlier this month TUI said it might be interested in acquiring parts of Sobelair, which serves 70 destinations around the Mediterranean, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean.

Sobelair was founded shortly after World War II, flying initially only to Africa, where Belgium has a long colonial history.

After escaping bankruptcy when Sabena collapsed, it was taken over in June 2002 by Belgian World Airlines (BWA), run by Italian-born businessman Aldo Vastapane, who had made his fortune in real estate, liquor and airport shops.

The collapse of the symbolically important national airline Sabena two years ago, in the direct aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States, hit Belgians hard.

The new airline failure came despite negotiations to save Sobelair including with the help of SN Brussels airlines, Sabena's successor. Staff agreed to pay cuts over the last two years as Sobelair struggled to keep going.

"I am sad and angry at the same time. I believed until the end that we would find someone to take over," said one staff member.

Passengers on Sobelair a flight to Cancun, Mexico were only told of the bankruptcy after they had boarded. "The captain came and told us that we had to get off," said one.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004


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