List of airlines by foundation date

This is a list of airlines by foundation date, founded before December 31, 1929.

The date of the first airline service may differ from the foundation date. Bold names indicate that the airline is still in operation.

Airline	Established	Ceased operations	Notes
DELAG	01909-11-16-0000November 16, 1909	01935-03-21-0000March 21, 1935	The world's first airline in revenue service. Operated Zeppelin airships. Merged with Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei (DZR) in 1935, which continued transatlantic flights until the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. Company dissolved in 1940.
Aero Rt.	01910-12-22-0000December 22, 1910	01920-01-01-00001920	Merged with Magyar Aeroforgalmi Rt (MAEFORT)
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line	01913-01-01-00001913	01914-01-01-00001914	First winged airline. See Thomas Reilly, Jannus: An American Flyer
The Great Yorkshire Show Air Line	01914-07-22-0000July 22, 1914	01914-07-24-0000July 24, 1914	Operated scheduled hourly return flights between Bradford and Leeds during the Great Yorkshire Show using a Blackburn Type I monoplane piloted by Harold Blackburn. First passenger was Dorothy Una Ratcliffe, the Lady Mayoress of Leeds.[1]
Aircraft Transport and Travel	01916-10-05-0000October 5, 1916	01921-01-01-00001921	Services started 25 August 1919; first scheduled daily international commercial air service, London to Paris. A subsidiary of Airco, its assets were used to create Daimler Airway
Chalk's Ocean Airways	01917-01-01-00001917	02007-01-01-00002007	Started scheduled service between Florida and the Bahamas in February 1919; Became Chalk's International Airlines.
Deutsche Luft-Reederei	01917-12-01-0000December 1917	01923-01-01-00001923	Services started February 5, 1919. Became part of Deutscher Aero Lloyd in 1923, merged into Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926. Founding member of International Air Traffic Association in 1919.
Det Norske Luftfartsrederi	01918-01-01-00001918	01921-01-01-00001921	Founding member of IATA
Danish Air Lines	01918-10-29-0000October 29, 1918	01946-01-01-00001946	Services started August 7, 1920. Part of SAS since 1946.
Société des lignes Latécoère	01918-12-25-0000December 25, 1918	01932-01-01-00001932	Services started December 25, 1918; rebranded as Aéropostale in 1927; its assets were incorporated into Air France in 1933
Svenska Lufttrafik	01919-02-07-0000February 7, 1919	01921-01-01-00001921	Services started 7 August 1920
Lignes Aériennes Farman	01919-02-08-0000February 8, 1919	01933-10-07-0000October 7, 1933	Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France.
Grands Express Aériens	01919-03-20-0000March 20, 1919	01923-01-01-0000January 1, 1923	Merged with Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes to form Air Union.
Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes	01919-04-18-0000April 18, 1919	01923-01-01-0000January 1, 1923	Merged with Grands Express Aériens to form Air Union.
Daimler Airway	01919-06-07-0000June 7, 1919	01924-01-01-00001924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways.
Compañía Colombiana de Navegación Aérea CCNA	01919-09-26-0000September 26, 1919[2]	01921-01-01-00001921	First airline in Colombia with mail contract with Colombian Government.
KLM	01919-10-07-0000October 7, 1919	Still in operation	Operations stopped during World War II apart from the operations in the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean. Merged with Air France in 2004. The airline is the "Oldest operating airline by date".
Avianca	01919-12-05-0000December 5, 1919	Still in operation	Originally founded as Colombo-German Air Transport Society, or SCADTA. Merged with SACO on June 14, 1940 and then renamed to Avianca. "Oldest operating airline in the Americas".
Handley Page Transport	01919-01-01-00001919	01924-03-31-0000March 31, 1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways.
Instone Air Line	01919-01-01-00001919	01924-01-01-00001924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways.
Aero	01920-01-01-0000January 1920	01921-01-01-00001921	Merged with Norske Aeroplanfabrik
/ Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne	01920-04-23-0000April 23, 1920	01933-01-01-00001933	Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France.
QANTAS	01920-11-16-0000November 16, 1920	Still in operation	Holds title of "Oldest operating Airline by Years in service"[3] as, unlike KLM, they continued operations through World War II.
Aeronaut	01921-03-22-0000March 22, 1921	01927-01-11-0000January 11, 1927	Operated the routes: Tallinn-Helsinki, Tallinn-Stockholm, Tallinn-Riga-Königsberg and Tallinn-Tartu-Viljandi-Pärnu. Stopped operations in 1927 due to financial problems.
Aerotarg	01921-05-21-0000May 21, 1921	01921-01-01-00001921	Operated only on the route between Warsaw and Poznań
Mexicana	01921-07-12-0000July 12, 1921	August 28, 2010	Suspended operations indefinitely. MRO still operational.
West Australian Airways	01921-12-05-0000December 5, 1921	01936-06-12-0000June 12, 1936	Became part of Australian National Airways.
Aeromarine West Indies Airways	01921-01-01-00001921	01924-01-01-00001924	Services started 1 November 1920; first U.S. international air service
Junkers Luftverkehr	01921-01-01-00001921	01926-01-01-00001926	A division of the aircraft manufacturer Junkers; became a separate company in 1924; merged into Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926; joint-ventures with airlines in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland
Aerolloyd	01922-09-01-0000September 1922	01929-12-29-0000December 29, 1929	Merged with other privately owned airlines in Poland and eventually formed LOT Polish Airlines.[4]
Malert	01922-11-19-0000November 19, 1922	01944-01-01-00001944	Fore-runner of Malev Hungarian Airlines.
Air Union	01923-01-01-0000January 1, 1923	01933-10-07-0000October 7, 1933	Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France.
/ Aeroflot	01923-02-09-0000February 9, 1923	Still in operation
SABENA	01923-05-23-0000May 23, 1923	02002-02-01-0000February 2002	Succeeded by SN Brussels Airlines. MRO still operational.
British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd	01923-08-01-0000August 1923	01924-01-01-00001924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways.
Czech Airlines	01923-10-06-0000October 6, 1923	Still in operation	Founded as Czechoslovak State Airlines, name changed to Czech Airlines in 1995.
Finnair	01923-11-01-0000November 1, 1923	Still in operation	Founded as Aero O/Y, name changed to Finnair in 1968.
Zakavia	01923-01-01-00001923	01925-01-01-00001925
Imperial Airways	01924-01-01-00001924	01939-01-01-00001939	Amalgamated to form British Overseas Airways Corporation - itself merged to found British Airways.
Delta Air Lines	01924-05-30-0000May 30, 1924	Still in operation	Founded as Huff Daland Dusters for crop dusting, renamed 'Delta Air Service' in 1928, operated scheduled services from 1928 to 1930 and since 1934, Oldest operating airline in the United States.
AB Aerotransport	01924-06-02-0000June 2, 1924	01950-01-01-00001950	Formed SAS.
/ Tajik Air	01924-09-03-0000September 3, 1924	Still in operation
CIDNA	01925-01-01-0000January 1, 1925	01933-10-07-0000October 7, 1933	The former company - CFRNA (French-Romanian Company For Air Navigation) was the first international transcontinental company. Incorporated into Air France.
Aero	01925-02-01-0000February 1925	01928-12-31-0000December 31, 1928	Merged with other privately owned airlines in Poland and eventually formed LOT Polish Airlines.
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano	01925-09-15-0000September 15, 1925	02007-04-01-0000April 1, 2007	Airline is going to be replaced with Boliviana de Aviación.
Unión Aérea Española	01925-01-01-00001925	01929-01-01-00001929	Merged with Concesionaria de Líneas Aéreas Subvencionadas following Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Western Air Express	01925-01-01-00001925	01986-09-09-0000September 9, 1986	Merged with Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental & Western Air in 1930; severed from T & WA again in 1934; merged with Delta Air Lines in 1986.
Deutsche Luft Hansa	01926-01-06-0000January 6, 1926	01945-01-01-00001945	Name styles as Deutsche Lufthansa from 1933. Operations suspended following the German defeat in World War II. There is no legal connection to Lufthansa, which was founded in 1953.
Western Canadian Airways	01926-03-01-0000March 1926	01930-01-01-00001930	Amalgamated with several Eastern Canadian carriers forming Canadian Airways.
Varney Airlines	01926-04-06-0000April 6, 1926	01934-01-01-00001934	Merged with National Air Transport to form United Airlines following the Air Mail scandal in 1933 and the Air Mail Act of 1934. In 1934 Varney Speed Lines was established becoming Continental Airlines in 1936 when Robert Six took over control.
Eastern Air Lines	01926-04-19-0000April 19, 1926	01991-01-18-0000January 18, 1991	Started Operations in 1926 as (Pitcairn Aviation). Until 1929 changed to "Eastern Air Transport" now Eastern Air Lines until 1991.
Northwest Airlines	01926-01-01-00001926	02010-01-31-0000January 31, 2010	Merged with Delta Air Lines.
Colonial Air Transport	01926-01-01-00001926	01930-01-01-00001930	Formed American Airlines.
Pan American World Airways	01927-03-14-0000March 14, 1927	01991-12-04-0000December 4, 1991	Founded by Juan T. Trippe and began operations in 1927 as Pan American Airways (PAA). Former flag carrier of United States. Bankrupted in 1991 due to: high fuel prices because of the first Gulf War and 1973 oil crisis; a series of hijackings; no US network until the 1980s; the Lockerbie bombing of flight 103.
Varig	01927-05-07-0000May 7, 1927	02006-07-20-0000July 20, 2006	New airline formed with the same name in 2006 and eventually sold to Gol Transportes Aéreos.
// Air Serbia	01927-06-17-0000June 17, 1927	Still in operation	formed as Aeroput in 1927, then re-formed as JAT - Jugoslovenski aerotransport in 1947, then Jat Airways in 2003, and then Air Serbia in 2013.
Iberia	01927-06-28-0000June 28, 1927	Still in operation	Merged with British Airways to form International Airlines Group in January 2011
Cruzeiro do Sul	01927-12-01-0000December 1, 1927	01993-01-01-0000January 1, 1993	Founded as Syndicato Condor. Name changed to Cruzeiro do Sul in 1943. Merged with Varig.
/ KNILM	01928-07-16-0000July 16, 1928	01947-08-01-0000August 1, 1947	First operated as KNILM. KNILM dissolved and transferred to KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf (today Garuda Indonesia)
ETA	01928-08-10-0000August 10, 1928	01929-11-16-0000November 16, 1929	Ceased operations due to administrative difficulties.
Faucett Perú	01928-09-15-0000September 15, 1928	01997-01-01-00001997
Transcontinental Air Transport	01928-01-01-00001928	02001-12-01-0000December 1, 2001	Merged with Western Air Express to form Transcontinental & Western Air (T & WA) in 1930; renamed Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1950; merged into American Airlines in 2001.
LOT Polish Airlines	01929-01-01-0000January 1, 1929	Still in operation	Linie Lotnicze LOT created by the Polish government to replace PLL Aerolot and SA Aero.
/ Hawaiian Airlines	01929-01-30-0000January 30, 1929	Still in operation	Incorporated January 30, 1929 as Inter-Island Airways. Began service October 6, 1929. Name changed to Hawaiian Airlines October 1, 1941.
LAN Airlines	01929-03-05-0000March 5, 1929	Still in operation	Began as Línea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica. It took the name Línea Aérea Nacional de Chile (LAN Chile) in 1932. In September 1989, the Chilean government privatized the carrier.
Concesionaria de Líneas Aéreas Subvencionadas	01929-05-13-0000May 13, 1929	01936-07-18-0000July 18, 1936	Ceased operations due to the Spanish Civil War.
Aeropostal	01929-07-03-0000July 3, 1929	Still in operation	Founded as Linea Aeropostal Venezolana LAV, name changed to Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela in 1997 after privatization.
Panair do Brasil	01929-10-22-0000October 22, 1929	01965-02-16-0000February 16, 1965	Founded as Nyrba do Brasil. Name changed to Panair do Brasil in 1930. Bankruptcy forced by the Brazilian Government.

References