1995–2001
In March and April 1998 two McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 aircraft joined the fleet and long-haul destinations as Newark, Montreal and São Paulo were (re)introduced.
1999 saw new colours introduced in the SABENA fleet, beginning with an Airbus A340. One of the latest fleet types that SABENA has introduced, right after the A321 and A320 is the A319 which saw service in 2000. These new planes were part of a record-order of 36 Airbuses, imposed on SABENA when under Swissair management.
After an airline recession and the effects on the airline industry of the September 11 attacks in 2001, all airlines that flew across the Atlantic suffered. Swissair had pledged to invest millions in SABENA, but failed to do so, partly because the airline had financial problems itself, having declared bankruptcy one month prior. SABENA operated its final flight on 7 November 2001. The company filed for legal protection against its creditors on 3 October, and went into liquidation on 6 November 2001. Fred Chaffart, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sabena, read a declaration on this day to explain the decision. A group of investors managed to take over Delta Air Transport, one of SABENA's subsidiaries, and transformed it into SN Brussels Airlines.
November 7, 2001, was the final day of operations for Sabena. Flight 690 from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, to Brussels via Cotonou, Benin, was the last Sabena flight to land in Brussels. An Airbus A340-300 registered as OO-SCZ operated the flight.
The Belgian Parliament formed a committee to investigate the reasons behind the bankruptcy of SABENA and the involvement of Switzerland's flag carrier. At the same time, the company's administrator investigated possible legal steps against Swissair, and its successor Swiss International Airlines.