A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations.
Historically, the term was used to refer to airlines owned by the government of their home country and associated with the national identity of that country. Such an airline may also be known as a national airline or a national carrier, although this can have different legal meanings in some countries. Today, it is any international airline with a strong connection to its home country or that represents its home country internationally, regardless of whether it is government-owned.
Flag carriers may also be known as such due to laws requiring aircraft or ships to display the state flag of the country of their registry. For example, under the law of the United States, a U.S. flag air carrier is any airline that holds a certificate under Section 401 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (i.e., any U.S.-based airline operating internationally), and any ship registered in the United States is known as a U.S. flag vessel.
Background
The term "flag carrier" is a legacy of the early days of commercial aviation when governments often took the lead by establishing state-owned airlines because of the high capital costs of running them. However, not all such airlines were government-owned; Pan Am, TWA, Cathay Pacific, Union de Transports Aériens, Canadian Pacific Air Lines and Olympic Airlines were all privately owned, but were considered to be flag carriers as they were the "main national airline" and often a sign of their country's presence abroad.
The heavily regulated aviation industry also meant aviation rights are often negotiated between governments, denying airlines access to an open market. These Bilateral Air Transport Agreements similar to the Bermuda I and Bermuda II agreements specify rights awardable only to locally registered airlines, forcing some governments to jump-start airlines to avoid being disadvantaged in the face of foreign competition. Some countries also establish flag carriers such as Israel's El Al or Lebanon's Middle East Airlines for nationalist reasons or to aid the country's economy, particularly in the area of tourism.
In many cases, governments would directly assist in the growth of their flag carriers typically through subsidies and other fiscal incentives. The establishment of competitors in the form of other locally registered airlines may be prohibited or heavily regulated to avoid direct competition. Even where privately run airlines may be allowed to be established, the flag carriers may still be accorded priority, especially in the apportionment of aviation rights to local or international markets.
Near the end of the twentieth century, many of these airlines have been corporatized as a public company or a state-owned enterprise, while others have been completely privatized. The aviation industry has also been gradually deregulated and liberalized, permitting greater freedoms of the air particularly in the United States and in the European Union with the signing of the Open Skies agreement. One of the features of such agreements is the right of a country to designate multiple airlines to serve international routes with the result that there is no single "flag carrier".
List of flag-carrying airlines The chart below lists airlines considered to be a "flag carrier", based on current or former state ownership or other verifiable designation as a national airline.
Country or region Airline Details of current state ownership Details of former state ownership Afghanistan Ariana Afghan Airlines State-owned Algeria Air Algérie State-owned Angola TAAG Angola Airlines Majority Argentina Aerolíneas Argentinas State-owned Aruba Aruba Airlines None Australia Qantas None State-owned between 1947 and 1995. Austria Austrian Airlines None – owned by Lufthansa State-owned until 5 December 2008. Azerbaijan State-owned Bahamas Bahamasair State-owned Bahrain Gulf Air State-owned Bangladesh Biman Bangladesh Airlines Public limited company State-owned until 23 July 2007. Belarus Belavia State-owned Belgium Brussels Airlines None – owned by Lufthansa State-owned in its original incarnation (). Bermuda BermudAir None Bhutan Druk Air State-owned Bolivia Boliviana de Aviación State-owned Botswana Air Botswana State-owned Brunei Royal Brunei Airlines State-owned Bulgaria Bulgaria Air Minority state-owned (0.01%) Burkina Faso Air Burkina State-owned Cambodia Air Cambodia Minority (30%) Cameroon Camair-Co State-owned Canada Air Canada None State-owned until privatization in 1989. Minority (est. 6.4%) between April 2021 and December 2024. Cape Verde Cabo Verde Airlines Majority (90%) Cayman Islands Cayman Airways State-owned Chile LATAM Chile None State-owned until September 1989. China Air China Majority (51.7%): 40.98% through CNAHC and 10.72% through CNACG State-owned until 2004. Colombia Avianca None Costa Rica Avianca Costa Rica Croatia Croatia Airlines Majority (98%) Cuba Cubana de Aviación State-owned Cyprus Cyprus Airways None – 40% owned by Malta-based SJC Group Congo Airways State-owned Denmark Minority (~26%) state-owned by Ministry of Finance of DenmarkSAS was partly owned by the governments of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. SAS is the flag carrier for all three nations. Norway Sweden Djibouti Air Djibouti Joint venture Dominican Republic Arajet None Egypt Egyptair State-owned Equatorial Guinea CEIBA Intercontinental State-owned Eritrea Eritrean Airlines State-owned Eswatini Eswatini Air Ethiopia Ethiopian Airlines State-owned Faroe Islands Atlantic Airways Fiji Fiji Airways Majority (51%) Finland Finnair Majority (55.8%) France Air France Minority state-ownership of Air France–KLM French Polynesia Air Tahiti Nui Majority Gabon FlyGabon Majority state-owned (56%) Germany Lufthansa None State-owned until 1994; remaining government shares were sold in 1997.Minority (20.05%) in the Lufthansa Group acquired in 2020 was sold in 2022. Greece Aegean Airlines The Greek Government had minority shares of the airline due to a COVID bailout. The airline bought back government shares in 2023 Greenland Air Greenland State-ownedPreviously owned by Scandinavian Airlines and Ministry of Finance of Denmark. Guernsey Aurigny State-owned Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Minority (~28.72% through Air China) Hong Kong Government owned 6.8% of shares from 2020 to 2024. Iceland Icelandair None – owned by Icelandair Group India Air India None – owned by Tata Group (74.9%) and Singapore Airlines (25.1%)State-owned until November 2021. Indonesia Garuda Indonesia Majority (60.54%) Iran Iran Air State-owned Iraq Iraqi Airways Ireland Aer Lingus None – owned by IAG State-owned until September 2006. Israel El Al Minority (~1.1%) State-owned until June 2004. Italy ITA Airways Majority (59%)Succeeded Alitalia starting from 15 October 2021 Ivory Coast Air Côte d'Ivoire State-owned Jamaica Caribbean Airlines Minority (16%) Trinidad and Tobago Majority (84%) Japan All Nippon Airways None Japan AirlinesNoneState-owned until 1987. Jordan Royal Jordanian Kazakhstan Air Astana Majority (51%) Kenya Kenya Airways Minority (29.8%) Kiribati Air Kiribati Kuwait Kuwait Airways State-owned Kyrgyzstan Asman Airlines State-owned Laos Lao Airlines State-owned Latvia airBaltic Majority (80.05%) Lebanon Middle East Airlines Majority (99%) Libya Afriqiyah Airways State-owned Libyan Airlines State-owned Luxembourg Luxair Majority (73.86%) Macau Air Macau Minority (5%) Madagascar Madagascar Airlines Majority Malawi Malawian Airlines Majority (51%) Malaysia Malaysia Airlines State-owned through Khazanah Nasional Maldives Maldivian Malta KM Malta Airlines Majority Marshall Islands Air Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritania Airlines State-owned Mauritius Air Mauritius Mexico Aeroméxico None State-owned until 2007. Mongolia MIAT Mongolian Airlines State-owned Montenegro Air MontenegroState-owned Morocco Royal Air Maroc State-owned Mozambique State-owned Myanmar Myanmar National Airlines State-owned Nauru Nauru Airlines State-owned Nepal Nepal Airlines State-owned Netherlands KLM Minority state-ownership of Air France–KLM New Caledonia Aircalin Majority (99%) New Zealand Air New ZealandMajority (53%) State-owned until 1989, partially re-nationalized in 2001. North Korea Air Koryo State-owned Oman Oman Air Majority Pakistan Minority state owned (25%)State owned until December 2025. 75% stakes were sold to Arif Habib Corporation Panama Copa Airlines None Papua New Guinea Air Niugini Paraguay LATAM Paraguay Peru LATAM Perú Philippines Philippine Airlines State-owned until 1992. Poland LOT Polish Airlines State-owned Portugal TAP Air Portugal Majority (72%) Qatar Qatar Airways State-owned Réunion Air Austral Romania TAROM Majority (97.22%) Russia Aeroflot Majority (51%) Rwanda RwandAir State-owned Samoa Samoa Airways State-owned Sao tome And Principe STP Airways None Saudi Arabia Saudia Majority Riyadh Air State-owned by the Public Investment Fund Senegal Air Senegal Serbia Air Serbia Majority (51%) Seychelles Air Seychelles State-owned (100%) Soloman Islands Solomon Airlines State-owned Sierra Leone Air Sierra Leone Singapore Singapore Airlines Majority (54.5% through Temasek Holdings) South Africa South African Airways State-owned South Korea Korean Air None – owned by HanjinState-owned until 1969. Spain Iberia None – owned by IAG Sri Lanka SriLankan Airlines State-owned Sudan Sudan Airways State-owned Suriname Surinam Airways State-owned Switzerland Swiss International Air Lines None – owned by Lufthansa Syria Syrian Air State-owned Taiwan China Airlines Majority State-owned until 1991. 51.28% held by non-profit Civic Aviation Development Foundation. Timor-Leste Aero Dili Tanzania Air Tanzania State-owned Thailand Thai Airways International Minority (47.86%) Tunisia Tunisair Majority Turkey Turkish Airlines Minority (49%) Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Airlines State-owned Uganda Uganda Airlines Etihad Airways State-owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi Emirates State-owned by the Government of Dubai through the ICD. United Kingdom British Airways None – owned by IAG State-owned until 1987. Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Airways Majority Vanuatu Air Vanuatu State-owned Venezuela ConviasaState-owned Vietnam Vietnam Airlines Majority (86.2%) Yemen Yemenia Majority Zambia Zambia Airways Zimbabwe Air Zimbabwe State-owned
See also List of charter airlines List of low-cost airlines
References
External links
International Air Transport Association .