Ever since the Wright brothers completed the first controlled, sustained flight in a heavier-than-air aircraft in 1903, the world of aviation has come along in leaps and bounds. From a luxury only available to the wealthy to the essential and widely used mode of transport it is today, flying has changed enormously. But which are the oldest airlines still dominating the skies today?
It came under national ownership in 1953, after India’s independence from Pakistan in 1947. In the early 1960s, Air India began purchasing the Boeing 707-420 planes that were kickstarting the jet age and became the first airline to operate an all-jet fleet by 1962. Today, Air India serves over 70 international and 100 domestic destinations and is renowned for its high level of customer service.
That might explain why it has such an unconventional fleet, with an eclectic mix of French (ATR 72s), Ukrainian (An-158s) and Russian planes (Il-96s and Tu-204s). Needless to say, you won’t find any American aircraft operated by Cubana. Today, the airline has a limited offering, running just two routes, flying from Havana to Bogota and Mexico City.
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Although LATAM as we know it was formed from the merger of two companies, LAN and TAM, in 2012, its history goes back much further than that. LAN or Línea Aérea Nacional de Chile was founded in 1929 as Chile’s flag carrier by army commodore Arturo Merino Benítez. The airline flew its first international flight in 1946, between Santiago and Buenos Aires. Throughout the next few decades it steadily increased its offering to other destinations in North and South America, then began flying to Europe in 1970.
Meanwhile, TAM was founded in 1961 and started life as an air taxi company based in Brazil. Since the two airlines merged forces in 2013, LATAM racked up an impressive 70 million passengers in 2019, as well as gaining a great track record for punctuality – OAG (the world's leading provider of digital flight information, intelligence and analytics) found that LATAM was the most punctual carrier in the world in a 2019 report, with 85.6% of flights arriving on time. Currently the largest airline in Latin America, LATAM serves nine countries in total.
When Hawaiian Airlines started up in 1929, it was an island-hopping domestic service known as Inter-Island Airways, with the first flight running between Honolulu and Hilo. But in the early 1940s it began to expand its horizons, offering flights between the island-state and US mainland and changing its name to Hawaiian Airlines. It was also the first certified air cargo service in America.
Today, Hawaiian is a small yet reliable carrier flying to every major island in Hawaii, as well as North America, Asia and the South Pacific. It handles more than 10 million passengers each year and has been ranked as number one in the US for on-time performance, according to the US Department of Transportation, plus it has a whole host of awards from national and international organisations and media.
Created by the Polish government in 1928, LOT was the successor to existing domestic carriers Aero and Aerolot. For much of the post-war period, it flew exclusively Soviet aircraft, but the company was able to buy Western planes again in 1988, after the breakup of the Soviet Union. It started with buying a small fleet of Boeing 767s, which allowed LOT to fly longer-haul flights between North America and Europe. Seen here are passengers disembarking a pre-war LOT Douglas DC-2 aircraft.
Today, LOT flies to more than a hundred destinations across four continents and it’s scooped up some great achievements during its 90-plus years in operation. Not only was it the first airline to fly between Warsaw and Los Angeles, it was also the first carrier in Central and Eastern Europe to purchase a Boeing plane, plus it has the largest loyalty programme of any European airline.
The Spanish flag carrier and the largest airline connecting Latin America with Europe, Iberia started life in 1927. But it was a turbulent beginning: Iberia was founded when Spain was ruled by military dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, who insisted that it must be put under state ownership. So it wasn’t until 1937 that Iberia relaunched under the current name, when it began flying planes as part of the nationalist effort during the Spanish Civil War. In 1944, the airline was nationalised by the Franco regime.
At first, Iberia offered exclusively domestic flights but from 1946 onwards it began flying to London and Latin America, with expansion continuing throughout the latter half of the 20th century. It remained in government ownership for a long time and it wasn’t until 2001 that Iberia was finally privatised. Today, Iberia’s a good bet if you want your flight to leave on time: it was named the most punctual low-cost airline for five consecutive years (2014-2018) by consultancy company FlightGlobal.
In 1927, Aeroput (which would eventually be renamed Air Serbia) was founded as the national airline of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Its first regular route, between Belgrade, Serbia and Zagreb, Croatia was established the following year. Like many other operators, it stalled during the Second World War but resumed routes – largely in then-Yugoslavia – in the post-war years, although a route linking Belgrade, Prague and Warsaw allowed it to spread its wings to the rest of Europe.
Up until 2013, Air Serbia was operating under the name Yugoslav Airlines (JAT). Following some financial difficulties, the airline partnered with Etihad and the government of Serbia to re-launch, under the name Air Serbia, which it has held ever since. Today, the operator flies to more than 60 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North America and has an overall 3-star rating from Skytrax.
US juggernaut American Airlines started life on 15 April 1926, when famous aviator Charles Lindbergh flew mail from St Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois. But the airline soon switched from delivering mail to passengers, offering routes from New York City and Boston to San Diego and Los Angeles. In 1936, American was the first operator to use DC-3 aircrafts (pictured here), which were considered the world’s first successful commercial planes and were also used in combat during the Second World War.
Today, American is acknowledged as the world’s largest airline by fleet size and seat sales – in fact, it’s responsible for one in five plane tickets bought in the US. So just how did it get so successful? One of the biggest reasons is its AAdvantage scheme, which generated a jaw-dropping £4.4 billion ($5.8bn) for the business in 2018 and 2019, which is more than the revenue it made from seat sales in that period. But it’s had many other firsts in its long history, from being the first airline to hire an African American pilot, to being one of the first to roll out Boeing 707s for passenger flights.
You might be surprised to learn that Delta actually had its roots in the farming industry: the airline’s first planes were used for aerial crop-dusting (spraying powdered fertiliser on crops from the air). Under the name of Huff Daland Dusters, the company was founded in Macon, Georgia in 1925. Delta gained its current moniker in 1928 – after the Mississippi Delta region it initially served – and began flying passengers a year later. Pictured here are vintage advertisements from 1965.
Check out these jaw-dropping facts about the world's leading airlines
Despite its humble beginnings, the airline has had some impressive firsts. It was the first operator to offer a direct flight between Chicago and Miami (1946), the first to use Convair 880 jets (1960) and the first US carrier to put moving maps into cabins showing passengers the plane’s route (1992). In the latter half of the 20th century, Delta acquired Western Air Lines, Pan Am, Atlantic Southeast and Comair – today it’s the second largest airline in the US in terms of fleet size.
Then in 1999, it became the first airline to receive a delivery of the brand new Airbus A320 – today its 80-strong fleet is largely made up of Airbuses, including new state-of-the-art Airbus A320s. Today, the airline is continuing to stay ahead of the times thanks to its world-class sustainability plan, which includes commitments to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2025 and to be completely carbon neutral by 2045. It is also part of the Nordic Initiative for Electric Aviation and has a scheme allowing customers to offset their flights or put money towards biofuel which is used on Finnair flights.
While many commercial airlines ground to a halt during the Second World War, Qantas continued flying between Australia and Singapore until 1942. What’s more, it was the only airline operating services between east Asia and Australia throughout the war. Qantas also claims it invented business class cabins – and while the truth is a little less clear-cut, the Aussie airline was the first to roll out larger, more comfortable seats, for which it charged a 15% premium. Today, Qantas is a good bet for nervous flyers: it’s frequently listed as the world’s safest airline by airlineratings.com and has a near-perfect record.
Depending who you ask, British Airways was either founded in 1919 or 1974. Let us explain what we mean. Its predecessor, AT&T, flew its first scheduled flight on 25 August 1919, which linked London and Paris. This airline was seen as the predecessor of BA, which is why the British carrier said it was celebrating its 100-year anniversary back in 2019. However, BA as we know it today was created in April 1974, with the merger of four British companies: British Overseas Airways Corporation, British European Airways, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. This image shows an AT&T Airco DH4A biplane, about to leave London for Paris in September 1919.
Technicalities aside, there’s no doubt that BA is one of the biggest and most influential airlines on the planet. One of the surprising feats it has accomplished is flying the world’s fastest subsonic flight in 2020, which saw the journey between New York and London covered in just four hours and 56 minutes. Perhaps less surprisingly, BA is also the biggest tea consumer in the skies, with a whopping 35 million cups served each year.
The national airline of Colombia, Avianca was founded in December 1919, although back then it was known as SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transporte Aereo). It initially began by offering domestic flights before launching international routes, to the US and Venezuela, in the 1920s. It has accomplished some impressive feats over the years: it owned the largest and fastest plane in 1951 (the Lockheed Super Constellation) and it was the first Latin American airline to own a Boeing-747.
But this hasn’t made Avianca immune to hard times. In 2003, following the deregulation of Colombia’s aviation industry and competition from international airlines, it filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. As part of its financial plan, it merged with El Salvadorian carrier TACA in 2009. The coronavirus pandemic forced Avianca to file for bankruptcy for a second time, in 2020, but after restructuring the company says it’s become “more efficient and financially stronger".
Any aviation buff knows that KLM, which is now part of the Air France KLM group, is the oldest airline on the planet. Established on 7 October 1919, the Dutch operator – whose name stands for Koninklijke Luchtvaartmaatschappij (we can see why they abbreviated it) – had its first official flight between London and Amsterdam in May 1920. The airline began to introduce routes connecting major European cities, including Brussels, London, Paris and Amsterdam, before introducing its first-ever transatlantic service in 1934. Pictured here are passengers ready to board a flight in 1928.
The industry has had many ups and downs since KLM’s inception, including suspended flights due to the Second World War and the jet plane boom between the 1960s and the 1980s. But KLM has managed to weather the storms. In 2004 it was acquired by Air France to create the Air France KLM Group. With a fleet of 554 aircraft and around 100 million annual passengers, the group takes up a larger chunk of Europe’s air traffic than any other airline or group.
Now discover how air travel has changed in every decade from the 1920s to today