Our embassy celebrates 100 years of air connectivity between Brussels and Kinshasa

With 10 drawings by Congolese illustrator Kash, our embassy in Kinshasa commemorated the heroic pioneering flight from Brussels to Léopoldville in 1925. Although it took 51 days at the time, it paved the way for today's busy air route between Belgium and Congo.

On 3 April 2025, it was exactly 100 years since the first flight from Brussels to Kinshasa, then known as Léopoldville. But don't picture a well-organized passenger flight. No, it was an epic journey that stretched over 51 days.

Edmond Thieffry

In 1925, air travel was still in its pioneering days. However, our source of national pride Sabena - an acronym for the 'Société Anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne' - had already been established for two years. It was in commission of Sabena that Belgian aviation ace Edmond Thieffry embarked on the perilous journey.

Thieffry was a heroic WWI pilot who co-founded Sabena. He led the flight to Kinshasa, accompanied by pilot Léopold Roger and engineer Jef Debruycker.

Open cockpit

The aircraft was a converted bomber originally meant to transport food, fuel, and equipment. The cockpit of the three-engined propeller plane was open, leaving the pilot exposed to wind and rain.

They usually flew at around 2,000 meters, but over the Sahara, they ascended to 2,500 metres to avoid sandstorms. They had to make five emergency landings, and at one point, a propeller even broke. Twice, they found themselves lost in the desert.

But eventually, they landed safely and amid great interest at Kinshasa airport after an 8,200-kilometre journey. Remarkably, their flight path is still followed today by Brussels Airlines, Sabena's successor: over France, Algeria, Mali, Chad, and the Central African Republic to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

World first

Our embassy in Kinshasa could not let this occasion go unnoticed. This very first flight to Kinshasa was nothing short of a world first: it was the first successful flight over the Sahara.

Moreover, that flight laid the foundation for a busy air route between Belgium and Congo, and by extension, the whole of Africa. In 1935, Sabena introduced a regular flight between the two countries, which still took several days back then. Today, Brussels Airlines operates a daily direct flight from Brussels to the Congolese capital.

Caricaturist Kash

Our colleagues in Kinshasa asked the renowned Congolese illustrator and caricaturist Kash to create 10 drawings depicting the heroic flight. In the embassy building, they organized a drink to inaugurate the works of art, on the occasion of the visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prévot on April 28, 2025. Numerous partners of our embassy attended the inauguration.

On social media, the drawings were widely showcased in the form of a quiz. After the reception, they will be permanently displayed in the embassy building. The plan is to create a numbered series of 10 reproductions that would be used, among other things, to decorate the airports in Zaventem and Kinshasa, and the headquarter of our Federal Public Service in Brussels.

This initiative successfully strengthened the ties between the two countries. Moreover, it did so through comic strips, an emblematic heritage of both Belgian and Congolese culture. It was also a tribute to the pioneering work of Sabena. To this day, Brussels Airlines remains one of the largest employers in Belgium.