bpost and Brussels Airlines celebrate 100 years of aviation between Belgium and the African continent with a new stamp
Brussels, January 27th, 2025 - Thursday 12 February will mark 100 years to the day since the very first flight to Congo took off from Belgium. Ahead of this special anniversary, a milestone for Belgian aviation, bpost is releasing a special stamp today.
Two top Belgian companies, bpost and Brussels Airlines, are joining forces to highlight a national milestone. The new stamp, on sale from today through bpost's channels, features a photomontage of the very first Belgian flight to Congo, today the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The stamp features, among other highlights, the former Belgian plane Princess Marie-José and its crew.
A world first
Together with mechanic Joseph De Bruycker and pilot Léopold Roger, navigator and pilot Edmond Thieffry left Brussels for Congo on 12 February 1925, for an 8,000-km flight. What made this feat all the more groundbreaking was the fact that the ‘little Belgians’ were the first to successfully fly across the Sahara, beating countries like France and Great Britain, despite the fact that the Princess Marie-José got lost in the desert twice.
51 days after their departure, our compatriots landed at the airport of Leopoldville, today's Kinshasa. Thus was born the very first connection by air between Belgium and DRC, a connection that today still occupies an important strategic place in the Brussels Airlines offer. In addition, the African Competence Centre, based in Brussels, draws on almost a century of experience, from which the entire Lufthansa Group can benefit. From summer 2025, Brussels Airlines will have 56 flights to the continent every week, up 10% from summer 2024.
"This milestone is more than a celebration of aviation history. It is also a testament to our enduring bond with Africa, which has become an integral part of our identity and our future. That bond has only grown stronger over the years ,as we have not only mapped out routes, but also built relationships and trust. The African continent is part of our DNA."
- Kenechi Ugwoke, Head of Africa Competence Centre, Lufthansa Group
For letters around the world
Each sheet of five of these brand new stamps, with a 1WORLD value and therefore suitable for sending mail worldwide, features a map of the route followed, from Brussels to Kinshasa, combined with an image of the aircraft, the Princess Marie-José. The new stamp issue costs 15 euros (for a sheet of 5 stamps) and is available from today on bpost's eshop, as well as in the Philaboutiques of Brussels and Mechelen.
Brussels Airlines carried nearly 1,100 tonnes of mail in 2024
Last year, the Belgian airline carried nearly 1,100 tonnes of mail to and from any of its 18 destinations in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for up to 60,000 letters a day. Kinshasa (DRC) takes the crown with around 275 tonnes of mail in 2024, followed by Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) with almost 160 tonnes and Entebbe (Uganda) with 137 tonnes.
Joëlle Neeb