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Surely more than once you hear the famous term flag carrier, but what does this expression mean, exists, is a current term or is it an old phrase dating back to the romantic days of aviation?
Flag Airline
This expression comes from the 50s onwards, when the vast majority of the world's airlines were State-owned and airlines were used as a means of global advertising, placing logos or country marks on airplanes, a kind of ambassadors. You have to remember that back then, there were few airlines and the flag of the country to which the plane belonged was placed next to the license plate. Subsequently, the term evolved and became the most representative airline, be it for history, was the first or had the most international presence as a “flag airline”, more than anything, the best-known airline in a country and make your compatriots proud.
Over the years, A large part of these famous flag airlines have been privatized due to the high operating costs that governments had to assume and within this change, for commercial issues or because it is a term that is used less and less, stopped using or calling themselves the flag carrier of X country.
With globalization and the arrival of large private airline groups, some of these traditional flag airlines were disappearing, breaking or merging with others, so the famous term has been disappearing and currently, mainly in Latin America, very few still use it as an advertising medium or to call for patriotism to win passengers against large private companies.
Although many have stopped using the term, in the society of each country, everyone knows which is the main airline, the most representative or its flag carrier, without it being necessarily State or having this denominative officially.
Flag Airlines of the World
These were or are what can be considered the flag airline of the different countries (Source www.xixerone.com):
| Country | Airline |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | Ariana Afghan Airlines |
| Germany | Lufthansa |
| Angola | TAAG Angola Airlines |
| Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabian Airlines |
| Algeria | Air Algeria |
| Argentina | Argentinian airlines |
| Armenia | Armavia |
| Australia | Qantas |
| Austria | Austrian Airlines |
| Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan Airlines |
| Bahrain | Gulf Air |
| Bangladesh | Biman Bangladesh Airlines |
| Belarus | Belavia |
| Belgium | Brussels Airlines |
| Bolivia | Bolivian Aviation |
| Bosnia y Herzegovina | B&H Airlines |
| Botswana | Air Botswana |
| Brazil | Tam now LATAM Brazil |
| Brunei | Royal Brunei Airlines |
| Bulgaria | Bulgaria Air |
| Burkina Faso | Air Burkina |
| Burundi | Air Burundi |
| Bhutan | Press Air |
| Cape Verde | TACV |
| Cambodia | Cambodia Angkor Air |
| Cameroon | Camair-Co |
| Canada | Air Canada |
| Chad | Toumaï Air Chad |
| Chile | LAN Airlines now LATAM Chile |
| China | Air China |
| Cyprus | Cyprus Airways |
| Vatican City | Alitalia |
| Colombia | Avianca |
| North Korea | Air Koryo |
| South Korea | Korean Air |
| Ivory Coast | Air Ivoire |
| Costa Rica | Lacsa |
| Croatia | Croatia Airlines |
| Cuba | Cuban Aviation |
| Denmark | Scandinavian Airlines |
| Ecuador | TAME |
| Egypt | EgyptAir |
| United Arab Emirates | Etihad Airways |
| Eritrea | Eritrean Airlines |
| Slovenia | Adria Airways |
| Spain | Iberia |
| Estonia | Estonian Air |
| Ethiopia | Ethiopian Airlines |
| Philippines | Philippine Airlines |
| Finland | Finnair |
| Fiji | Air Pacific |
| France | Air France |
| Georgia | Georgian Airways |
| Greece | Olympic Airlines |
| Greenland | Air Greenland |
| Equatorial Guinea | Ceiba Intercontinental |
| Haiti | Tortug’ Air |
| Hong Kong | Cathay Pacific |
| India | Air India |
| Indonesia | Garuda Indonesia |
| Iran | Iran Air |
| Ireland | Aer Lingus |
| Iceland | Icelandair |
| Israel | El Al |
| Italy | Alitalia |
| Jamaica | Air Jamaica |
| Japan | Japan Airlines |
| Jordan | Royal Jordanian |
| Kazakhstan | Air Astana |
| Kenya | Kenya Airways |
| Kiribati | Air Kiribati |
| Kuwait | Kuwait Airways |
| Czech Republic | Czech Airlines |
| Laos | Lao Airlines |
| the Bahamas | Bahamasair |
| Latvia | Air Baltic |
| Lebanon | Middle East Airlines |
| Libya | Libyan Airlines |
| Luxembourg | Luxair |
| Macau | Air Macau |
| Madagascar | Air Madagascar |
| Malaysia | Malaysia Airlines |
| Malawi | Air Malawi |
| Maldives | Maldivian |
| Malta | Air Malta |
| Morocco | Royal Air Morocco |
| Mauricio | Air Mauritius |
| Mauritania | Mauritania Airlines International |
| Mexico | Aeromexico |
| Moldova | Air Moldova |
| Mongolia | MIAT Mongolian Airlines |
| Mozambique | LAM Mozambique Airlines |
| Myanmar | Myanma Airways |
| Namibia | Air Namibia |
| Nepal | Nepal Airlines |
| Nigeria | Air Nigeria |
| Norway | Scandinavian Airlines |
| New Zealand | Air New Zealand |
| Oman | Oman Air |
| Netherlands | KLM |
| Pakistan | Pakistan International Airlines |
| Panama | Copa Airlines |
| Papua New Guinea | Air Niugini |
| Poland | LOT Polish Airlines |
| Portugal | TAP Portugal |
| Qatar | Qatar Airways |
| United Kingdom | British Airways |
| Dominican Republic | PAWA Dominican |
| Rwanda | RwandAir |
| Romania | TAROM |
| Russia | Aeroflot |
| Samoa | Virgin Samoa |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | SVG Air |
| Sao Tome and Principe | STP Airways |
| Serbia | Jat Airways |
| Seychelles | Air Seychelles |
| Sierra Leone | Arik Air |
| Singapore | Singapore Airlines |
| Sri Lanka | SriLankan Airlines |
| Swaziland | Swaziland Airlink |
| South Africa | South African Airways |
| Sudan | Sudan Airways |
| South Sudan | Southern Star Airlines |
| Sweden | Scandinavian Airlines |
| Switzerland | Swiss International Airlines |
| Thailand | Thai Airways International |
| Taiwan | China Airlines |
| Tanzania | Air Tanzania |
| Tajikistan | Tajik Air |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Caribbean Airlines |
| Tunisia | Tunisair |
| Turkmenistan | Turkmenistan Airlines |
| Turkey | Turkish Airlines |
| Ukraine | Ukraine International Airlines |
| Uganda | Air Uganda |
| Uruguay | PLUNA |
| Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan Airways |
| Venezuela | Conviasa |
| Vietnam | Vietnam Airlines |
| Yemen | Yemenia |
| Djibouti | Djibouti Air |
| Zimbabwe | Air Zimbabwe |
Does anyone officially determine which is the flag carrier of a country?
It depends on each country, in some for example, The airline considered official flag has been named via presidential decree, while in others, it is only the most popular or known, without there being an official body that has determined it to have this category.
A flag carrier will not necessarily be the largest (could be a private), the one with the most planes, the one that flies the most destinations or the one with the best service, but it will be the one that a whole country identifies with. In this point, Some governments still insist that having a flag airline will help the country's tourism and economy, or even this concept has been used as a way to protect domestic airlines from large airlines., either way, this concept is disappearing.
The case of Ecuador
In our particular case, when Tame went from being an airline managed by the FAE to a Public Company, had the objective of connecting Ecuador with the world, carrying the Ecuadorian flag to the places where Ecuadorians are and from there, It is known as the flag carrier of Ecuador. Although currently it has closed some international destinations, its brand has some degree of recognition in the region and is identified as the airline of Ecuadorians.
Previously, this pedestal had been occupied by Ecuatoriana de Aviación, the only Ecuadorian airline that came to impose a strong brand positioning in the region with all the international routes it had in its best days.
On conclusion, the term flag carrier is a somewhat romantic term and continues its process of disappearing and giving way to a globalized aviation, where they all compete equally for each passenger transported and the concept of "most representative airline of a country" is born without being an official designation, rather the choice of their compatriots.
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Uruguay no longer has airlines, pen has broken ,we only use the airport and get on other planes😭
The concept of the flag carrier dates back to the bilateral agreements for the Second World War when the flag carrier was the airline designated by each country to enforce those rights.. It fell into disuse with multi-designation. That is why the United States never had a single one because in its golden age Pan Am flew abroad but so did TWA and Eastern.
I meant "post Second War"
The Equatorial Guinea airline is no longer called Ecuato Guineana but Ceiba Intercontinental.
Good date! Thanks
Buenas tardes, I do not share the conclusion, given that, flag airlines is not just a romantic concept, flag airlines serve to have a sovereign rank and status of a nation-state, I think much more needs to be developed, this is a good weapon to go against imperialism, not globalization.
Good gun? Imperialism? They are concepts that have nothing to do with aviation and less with a flag airline.
well well
The flagged airlines will see those designated by each State in the framework of the negotiations of the bilateral agreements that set the routes and frequencies to operate on each side.. With multi-designation (that several airlines can fly from each country) the concept fell into disuse.
His publications are interesting, especially his conclusion that mentions that flag airlines are something romantic and are in the process of disappearing to make way for globalized aviation, where all compete equally for each passenger transported; This last part does not occur with state lines in the case of Ecuador because globalized lines, like all businesses, only operate what generates profitability., If our State airline were to disappear, not only hundreds if not thousands of indirect workers would be affected. (ground transportation, airports, restaurants, Hotels) It is only to see that the airlines in our country only fly around six destinations of more than thirteen national destinations that the State airline flies for only generating social profitability to these destinations, sometimes I wonder if it's a peer-to-peer competition; if in the very basic economies of a town the butcher does not sell him the soft meat if he buys the bone.
Thanks for your comment John. Ecuador has a lot of potential to grow, you just have to know how to exploit it.
The official airline of the United Arab Emirates is EMIRATES, no Etihad airways
You have a website where to confirm this? The internet says it's Etihad.