Sabena files for bankruptcy

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Sabena passengers were making alternative travel plans on Wednesday after the airline officially filed for bankruptcy.

Thousands were left stranded after Sabena staff walked out of Brussels' Zaventem national airport amid rumours that the Belgian airline was about to go bust on Tuesday.

About 12,000 staff will be waiting to hear if some of their jobs can be salvaged from the majority-government owned company.

Lawyers for Sabena, one of Europe's oldest airlines, formally filed for bankruptcy at 7.30 a.m. (0630 GMT) on Wednesday, a court clerk said.

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Documents requesting that bankruptcy protection be lifted were filed with the Brussels commercial court, the clerk added.

It is now up to a judge to grant bankruptcy. Sabena is likely to become the first European flag carrier to go bankrupt, with the potential loss of up to 12,000 jobs.

Sabena has $2.1 billion of debt, a situation worsened by the effects of the terror attacks in the United States on September 11.

But the biggest direct damage was triggered by the demise last month of co-parent Swissair, which owns 49.5 percent of its stock, depriving the Belgian carrier of a vital capital injection.

The government, which owns 50.5 percent of the airline, said it was in talks with several Belgian private and institutional investors to try to continue some of Sabena's airline activities under its regional subsidiary, Delta Air Transport.

It has also been in talks with Virgin Express, financial institutions and other investors on restarting a smaller airline focused mainly on Europe.

Sabena management will be hoping Tuesday's scenes will not be repeated when angry passengers and staff protested at the airport's terminals.

Jan Van der Cruysse, spokesman for airport operator BIAC, had said in a statement on TV and radio: "We call on Sabena passengers not to come to the airport. It won't do any good."

Extra police had been sent in an effort to prevent any sabotage or violence.

The unions met Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt on Tuesday on how to compensate the majority of the 12,000 workforce likely to lose their jobs.

"We are working very hard to take care of the social aspects. That is the main goal of the government," said Privatisation Minister Rik Daems.