European Air Transport (Belgium)


European Air Transport N.V./S.A. is a cargo airline headquartered in Brussels Airport and in Zaventem, Belgium. The airline was owned by Deutsche Post DHL and operated the group's DHL-branded parcel and express services in Europe.

History

European Air Transport was founded in Belgium in 1970 as an air taxi service. EAT was created by two pilots, Pirlot de Corbion and Dessain. EAT started with two aircraft, a Beechcraft Queen Air and a Gardan Horizon. In response to the need for pilots in the Belgian market, EAT began a pilot training school. In 1973, EAT was the first Piper Flying Centre in Europe.
EAT expanded its activities by contracting with DHL Worldwide Express in 1985. Previously, DHL had selected Brussels Airport as its European hub. The co-operation between EAT and DHL was so successful that in 1986, DHL decided to make EAT part of the DHL group, and thus became the major DHL airline with service to Europe and Africa. On January 19, 1993, EAT became a member of the International Air Transport Association. In that same year, EAT obtained the necessary permits to transport various dangerous goods and live animals.
In 2002, Deutsche Post completed the takeover of DHL, making EAT a wholly owned subsidiary.
In October 2004, Deutsche Post announced that Brussels Airport would no longer be DHL's major hub for Europe starting in 2008. This was due to the failure of the Belgian Federal Government and Deutsche Post to reach an agreement on a framework to permit DHL to expand its future flight operations. As a consequence, Deutsche Post decided to make Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany its international hub, with daily flights to all major cities in Europe. EAT headquarters are located in Schkeuditz. EAT has a license for scheduled and unscheduled cargo flights all over the world.
Through a merger agreement dated 10 February 2010, European Air Transport N.V. Brussels was dissolved, and its assets incorporated by the European Air Transport Leipzig GmbH. They merged in late March 2010.

Fleet

At the time of its dissolution in late March 2010, European Air Transport operated a fleet of 11 Boeing 757-200 freighters with Rolls-Royce RB211-535 engines. Additionally, in the years before the dissolution European Air Transport also operated up to 13 Airbus A300B4 freighters.

Accidents

2002: Überlingen mid-air collision overhead lake constance
In 2003, OO-DLL, a European Air Transport A300 aircraft, was struck by a missile shortly after its takeoff from Baghdad, Iraq in the 2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident.