Thursday, December 10, 2009

Sabena: Brussels-Niamey-Leopoldville-Elisabethville

A gem of a relic, from 23 November 1935, features a detailed route map showing Sabena extending its reach into deepest Congo. The routing shows Brussels-Marsaille-Oran-Niamey-Fort Lamy (now N'Djamena, Chad)-Libenge (?)-Leopoldville (Kinshasa) and ending in Elisabethville, now Lubumbashi, in DR Congo's copperbelt region. No European carriers reach this city today. Note the gorgeous stamp, with a tiny motorcraft banking over the Palais de Justice in Brussels, an edifice built with the spoils of the Belgian Congo. Libenge, a small outpost on the Ubangi River, has no international service today, and is not listed on any Congo carriers' destination lists, such as Hewa Bora Airways.

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