The ''Syndicat national d'Etude des Transports Aériens'' ("National Union of Study of Aerial Transport"), known by its acronym SNETA, was a Belgian airline which operated from 1919 to 1923 in order to pioneer commercial aviation in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
. In 1923 it ceased operations and merged into the newly founded national carrier
SABENA
The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its b ...
.
History
The company was founded on 31 March 1919 by
Georges Nélis Georges may refer to:
Places
*Georges River, New South Wales, Australia
*Georges Quay (Dublin)
* Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Other uses
*Georges (name)
* ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas
* "Georges" (song), a 197 ...
with the support of
King Albert I
Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934.
Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Si ...
. It operated from the
airfield
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
at
Haren, near Brussels, and flew to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
(
Hounslow Heath Aerodrome
Hounslow Heath Aerodrome was a grass airfield, operational 1914–1920. It was in the London borough of Hounslow, and hosted the British Empire's first scheduled daily international commercial flights, in 1919. The site today includes the main r ...
and
Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport (former International Civil Aviation Organization airport code, ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neocla ...
),
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
(
Paris–Le Bourget Airport
Paris–Le Bourget Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Paris-Le Bourget) is an airport located within portions of the communes of Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, Dugny and Gonesse, north-northeast of Paris, France.
Once Paris's principal ...
) and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
(
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
). Amongst the pilots of SNETA was
Ivan Smirnov. Its initial fleet was made up of surplus airplanes from the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
. The company used a mix of British, French and German planes. The first nine acquired airplanes were:
* 3
Breguet 14 Breguet or Bréguet may refer to:
* Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer
** Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker
** Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work
* Bré ...
* 3
De Havilland Airco DH.9
* 3
Rumpler C.IV.
Later the company also acquired
Farman F.60 Goliaths and
Fokker D.VIIs.
In 1921, the company started operating in the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
through its subsidiary CENAC (''Comité d' Etude pour la Navigation Aérienne du Congo'' and later as
Ligne Aérienne du Roi Albert) flying to
Matadi
Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, ...
,
Léopoldville
Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one ...
and
Stanleyville using the
Lévy-Le Pen.
On 27 September 1921, a wooden hangar burned out, destroying 7 of SNETA's 23 airplanes.
By 1 June 1922, enough information was gathered and all experimental flights were suspended. This cleared the way to start up a real Belgian commercial operator, SABENA, which came into being on 23 May 1923 and into which SNETA merged.
Fleet
Historical fleet
* 3x
Bréguet 14
The Bréguet XIV (in contemporary practice) or Bréguet 14 was a French biplane bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of World War I. It was built in very large numbers and production continued for many years after the end of the war.
The Brégue ...
* 6x
Airco de Havilland DH.9
* 5x
Airco de Havilland DH.4
* 10x
Rumpler C.IV
* 1x
Luft-Verkehrs Gesellschaft LVG C.IV
* 6x
Luft-Verkehrs Gesellschaft LVG C.VI
* 6x
Farman F.60 Goliath
* 1x
Ansaldo A.300-C
* 6x
Blériot-SPAD S.33
The Bleriot-SPAD S.33 was a small French airliner developed soon after World War I. The aircraft was a biplane of conventional configuration whose design owed much to the Blériot company's contemporary fighter designs such as the S.20. Four ...
* Operated by CENAC: 6x Levy-Le Pen flying boats.
Further reading
*
External links
Tillo Behaeghe, ''Aimé Behaeghe, De eerste piloot in Centraal Afrika'', Hangar Flying, Grimbergen, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneta
Defunct airlines of Belgium
Economic history of Belgium
Airlines established in 1919
Airlines disestablished in 1923
Belgian companies established in 1919
1923 disestablishments in Belgium