Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has announced the launch of a new Belgian airline on the same day that its national flagship, Sabena, has filed for bankruptcy.

The new airline will be based in Brussels and will, unlike Sabena, be independent of the government.

Mr Verhofstadt's said that after intensive talks with investors that the new airline - as yet unnamed - would be capitalized at 200m euros ($180m), including 155m euros from 12 Belgian banks and enterprises.

The remaining capital is to come from Belgian regional investment corporations.

Salvaged jobs

The new airline is to be launched "as quickly as possible," using Sabena's still-functioning regional subsidiary Delta Air Transport as a launch pad.

The new carrier will employ 2,000-2,500 people, trimming the estimated redundancies at Sabena to a net loss of 5,000-5,500.

It will focus on European and African routes.

A statement on Sabena's web site said the company hoped many of its European flights would resume via DAT "in a few days".

Sabena, the 78-year-old national airline which filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, is part of a larger Sabena group, subsidiaries of which continue to operate.

Stiff competition

However, the new Belgian carrier will face stiff competition from established European airlines hoping to carve up Sabena's share of the market between them.

Air France is expected to snap up much of Sabena's holiday travel business, as Belgian holidaymakers can easily take a fast train from Brussels to Paris to catch a flight.

Dutch airline KLM said it had already begun benefiting from Sabena's high-profile problems during recent weeks.

"Many passengers in Belgium who feared a collapse of Sabena booked with KLM instead," said Bart Koster, a KLM spokesman.

American Airlines, which competed with Sabena on the lucrative Brussels to New York route, now stands to gain a larger share of the transatlantic market.

On short-haul routes, Sabena's successor will be exposed to competition from smaller European operators.

On Wednesday, independent carrier British European, part of the Walker Aviation Group, launched three daily flights from Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Birmingham to Brussels.