Sabena 'to suspend operations'

Sources say the planes will not fly on Wednesday

Belgium's indebted national airline, Sabena, is expected to suspend operations on Wednesday, both government and company sources told Reuters.

"There will be no Sabena flights on Wednesday," a member of staff said, though he did not know how long the suspension would last.

An official Sabena spokesman declined to comment and said the airline had nothing to say to passengers holding tickets.

About 12,000 jobs may be lost if Sabena collapses.

Bankruptcy looms

No new investor has been found for the airline, so the its holding company may be put into liquidation this week, chief executive Christoph Mueller said in a memo late last week, according to trade union sources.

"Management confirmed to us that Sabena is inescapably headed for bankruptcy," said the Belgian Cockpit Association's Joel Gans.

The airline was last month granted bankruptcy protection for two months by a court in Belgium.

It has about half that period left to run.

Sabena's management said the search for a recovery plan continues.

"We've been working night and day, but we still don't have a plan," said spokesman Olivier Gillis.

Swissair

Sabena's debts total about 2bn euros (£1.2bn; $1.8bn).

Its talks with investors, aimed to attract 372m euros in fresh cash, started after its part-owner, Swissair, reneged on a promised 136m-euro injection into the Belgian airline.

The reconstruction of the Swiss company, which is rolling its viable operations into its regional subsidiary Crossair, is expected to be partly funded by the government.