| Let me tell you more about another crisis in the airline industry is the Belgian airline Sabena, formally has filed for bankruptcy today. If the request is granted, Sabena will become the first major European airline to go bust since the suicide attacks in the United States in September, which pushed the airline industry into crisis. Sabena has debts of $1.8 billion and 12,000 jobs are at risk. 航空业的另一个危机是比利时航空公司（又称萨比纳），它今天正式申请破产。美国九月遭受的自杀式袭击把航空业带进困境，如果比利时航空公司的破产申请获准，那它将成为这场危机中首家宣告破产的欧洲大航空公司。比航目前负债高达18亿美元，有一万两千个工作岗位的处境岌岌可危。 Sabena's 12,000 staff were furious at the way the company handled its bankruptcy. Their noisy demonstrations added to the chaos at Brussels airport on Tuesday. The last hope, for at least some of their jobs, could be Virgin Express. 比利时航空公司的一万两千名员工对公司处理破产的手法非常不满意。星期二，他们吵闹的示威使本已混乱不堪的布鲁塞尔机场雪上加霜。对于一些员工来说，最后的一线希望可能是维珍捷运航空公司。 Richard Branson's low cost airline has been talking for months about the possibility of tying up with Sabena's regional subsidiary DAT. It has around 30 planes, which is how many Virgin Express says it wants to add to its own fleet. 理查德·布兰森的这家低价航空公司想与比航的地区分公司德尔塔航空运输公司合并，此事的谈判已进行了好几个月了。德尔塔航空运输公司的机群约有30架飞机，据说这与维珍捷运想增加的飞机数量正好相同。 Richard Branson (Virgin Group CEO): Sabena has gone bust. Virgin Express is a rival to Sabena. And what we are now looking at is whether anything will come out of what's left to Sabena and if something comes out, we might reach an agreement with them or we might compete with them, and we'll see what happens over the next few days. 理查德·布兰森（维珍集团首席执行官）: 比利时航空公司要破产了。目前，维珍捷运航空公司与比航是相互竞争的对手。我们正在观望，看看比航的结果会是什么。如果谈判有了结果，我们可能会同他们达成协议，或者我们还会继续与他们竞争。在以后的几天里，我们就会知道事情如何发展。 At one stage on Tuesday, Virgin said it had pulled out of talks with Sabena. But as the Belgian carrier announced its bankruptcy, it also said the talks with Virgin Express and others about saving DAT were ongoing. 不过在星期二，维珍曾一度说它已退出了与比航的谈判。但比航在宣布破产的同时，也曾说它与维珍捷运及其它公司关于挽救德尔塔航空运输公司的谈判正在进行当中。 Fred Chaffart (Sabena Board Chairman): Everything possible is and will be done to confront the current dramatic situation. Plans are being developed with Belgian investors and financial institutions and with Virgin Express to start a smaller, more adequate airline activity, based on our regional airline DAT. 弗雷德·查法特（比航董事长）: 我们会尽一切努力来应付眼前的剧变。我们正与比利时的投资者、金融机构和维珍捷运公司商讨，准备在我们的地区航空公司德尔塔航空运输公司的基础上重新建立一个比原来小的、更合适的航空公司。 Analysts believe that a new company built around the DAT operations could be a viable business, and that could save up to half of the threatened Sabena jobs. There is also a sense this sort of radical shake-up in Europe's airline industry was long overdue. 分析家相信，在德尔塔航空运输公司目前业务的基础上建立起来的新公司很有希望获得成功，这样，比航约一半的员工就会保住他们的工作。人们还认为，欧洲航空业早就应该进行这种大变革了。 Sabena has made a profit once since 1958. The business world expects better than that. For now though, the promise of a more profitable future for the industry is little comfort to the Sabena workers. 比航自1958年成立以来，只有过一次盈利记录。当然，商界期待的不仅仅是这些。航空业将来可能会赚更多的钱，但眼下，这个希望根本不能给比航的员工们一点安慰。 |
