1961 Sabena Belgian World Airlines Pictorial Map of Europe

This is a c. 1961 Sabena Belgian World Airlines pictorial map of Europe. Created as a promotional tool and aimed at an American audience, this piece promotes Sabena's 'Extra City Plans' to entice Americans to travel across the Atlantic.

A Closer Look

Illustrations highlight European capitals and lend old-world charm. Recognizable monuments mark Paris (the Eiffel Tower), London (Big Ben and Parliament), Rome (Colosseum), Pisa (Leaning Tower), Istanbul (Hagia Sophia), and Moscow (St. Basil's Cathedral). Other illustrations promote local culture or tourism activities.

Promoting Travel

While this piece is visually charming, its main objective is to sell air tickets. Calendars for 1961 and 1962 occupy the left and right sides, helping viewers plan their next trip. Fourteen destinations served by Sabena create the top and bottom border, underscoring that through the 'Extra City Plan', if one were to travel to London with Sabena, they could visit 9 other cities in Britain and Ireland at no extra cost. The number of included cities at no extra cost varied depending on the traveler's initial destination. If one traveled to Tel-Aviv (the only non-European destination), 27 cities throughout Europe and the Near East could be added to an itinerary.

Sabena Belgian World Airlines

Sabena Belgian World Airlines was founded on May 23, 1923, and was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 until 2001, when it filed for bankruptcy. Sabena is an acronym for Société anonyme belge d'explotation de la navigation aérienne ('Belgian Corporation for the Exploitation of Aerial Navigation'). It was created by the Belgian government after its predecessor failed. Notably, Sabena pioneered long-haul service to Africa, serving Leopoldville (Kinshasa), the capital of the Belgian Congo, beginning on February 12, 1925. Regular service to the Congo, however, was nonexistent. It was not until 1935 that a semblance of long-haul service to the Congo commenced, with the flight taking 5.5 days. Service in Europe halted during World War II, but Sabena maintained its domestic routes in the Congo throughout the war. Service resumed in Europe in 1946, using mainly surplus Douglas C-47 Skytrains (the military variant of the DC-3). Sabena's network slowly expanded during the 1950s and 1960s, including trans-Atlantic service to New York. Sabena also used helicopters to ferry customers between cities in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Paris. The airline changed its name to Sabena World Airlines in the early 1990s. Swissair bought a minority stake in the airline in 1995 and took over operations, hoping to help 'right the ship' after years of financial losses. Sabena filed for bankruptcy on October 3, 2001, after its financial problems (and those of Swissair) were exacerbated by the airline recession following the September 11 attacks in New York.

Publication History and Census

This map was created for and published by Sabena Belgian World Airlines. We note a single cataloged example, located at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. This piece does not appear in OCLC. We note only a few instances when this piece has appeared on the private market in recent years.