European Air Transport - History

History

European Air Transport was founded 1971 in Belgium by two pilots, Mr. Pirlot de Corbion and Mr. Dessain, as an air taxi service. EAT started with a 2 aircraft, a Beechcraft Queen Air and a Gardan Horizon. It soon became clear that there was a need for pilots on the Belgian market, so EAT started a pilot training school. In 1973 EAT was the first Piper Flying Centre in Europe.

EAT expanded its activities by entering into a contract with DHL Worldwide Express in 1985. Just before that, DHL selected Brussels Airport as the location for 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 for Europe and Africa. On 19 January 1993, EAT became a member of IATA. In the same year, EAT obtained the necessary permits for the transportation of a number of 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 as from 2008, 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 through Brussels Airport. As a consequence, Deutsche Post decided to make Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany its new international aviation hub, with daily flights through all major cities in Europe. EAT Headquarters is located in Schkeuditz and will continue to be DHL's major European airline. EAT has a license for scheduled and unscheduled cargo flights all over the world.