Airline Counter: 41
Lufthansa
Lufthansa has roots to the establishment of Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926, through the merger of Deutscher Aero Lloyd (airline) and Junkers Luftverkehr (aircraft manufacturer). The airline became Germany’s pre-war flag carrier and provided wartime duties during the Second World War. The company was entirely liquidated by the allies by 1951, and a new airline, Luftag, was founded in 1953 with hopes to become the country’s new flag carrier. Luftag rebranded to Lufthansa in 1954 after successfully acquiring rights to the name of the pre-war carrier, which it uses to this day.
Air Belgium
Air Belgium was founded in 2016 and first flew in 2018 with a fleet of A340-300s aiming to provide affordable flights to long-haul destinations from Belgium, seeing an underserved market. However, suffering financial strains, Air Belgium began wet lease operations in 2018, with its A340 fleet providing useful capacity to airlines affected by the 787 engine inspections of the time (like this BA flight into Pearson). After several failed attempts to launch profitable overseas routes from Belgium, Air Belgium refocused on its cargo/wet lease operations, suspending all scheduled passenger services.
Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines was founded in 1933 as State Airlines Administration and renamed Turkish Airlines in 1955. The airline later crossed the Atlantic in 1961 for the first time on a 30 hour flight from Istanbul to the US. At the time of this image, Turkish flies to more countries, has the largest route network, and operates more non-stop destinations from a single airport (its Istanbul hub) than any other airline in the world. It has also received recognition as Europe’s best airline by Skytrax on multiple occasions, a notable change from its reputation of subpar service towards the end of the 20th century.
British Airways
British Airways dates to 1919, when Air Transport & Travel launched the world’s first daily international commercial service (Middlesex–Paris); they merged with Daimler Aviation in 1920, which joined 3 other air companies in 1924 to form Imperial Airways. In the 1940s, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) succeeded Imperial Airways as Britain’s flag carrier, while British European Airways (BEA) served Europe and British South American Airways (BSAA) served South America/Caribbean. BSAA merged with BOAC in 1949 for all overseas routes, and in 1974, BOAC and BEA merged, forming British Airways.
KLM
KLM was founded in 1919 as “Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij” (“Royal Aviation Company”), making it the world’s oldest airline operating under its original name. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands granted the company its “Royal” designation, which it still uses today. KLM first flew in 1920 between London and Amsterdam and, in 1946, became the first airline to operate scheduled flights between continental Europe and New York. The company received its first 747 in 1971 and would become one of the longest passenger operators of the type, retiring their last passenger 747 in 2023.
DHL Aviation
DHL Aviation, the air cargo branch of DHL Express, dates to 1969 when the DHL brand was founded. It first flew between San Francisco and Honolulu and sequentially expanded throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. The company operates as a group of cargo airlines which share DHL Express as a common parent, stake holder, or partner. Many of these cargo airlines serve geographically unique regions with a combined fleet north of 300, making DHL Aviation one of the most significant players in the air freight industry. Today, the company flies to over 500 airports world-wide.
Aerologic
Aerologic was founded in 2007 as a joint venture between Lufthansa Cargo and DHL to provide increased air freight capacity for the two partners. It has matured into one of Germany’s largest air freight operators and was the German launch customer of the 777F. Logistically, as a joint venture between DHL and Lufthansa Cargo, the airline splits operational use between the two partners at different times during the week. Aerologic mainly flies to Asian destinations during the week, using DHL Express’ network, while Lufthansa Cargo retains the use over the weekends
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA)
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) launched in 1992 following the fall of the Soviet Union, which left the newly independent state of Ukraine without a national airline. The company quickly launched its first route that year, between Kiev and London, with more routes following soon after. Previously, Aeroflot (the Soviet Union and now Russia’s flag carrier) and its subsidiaries served Ukraine under the Soviet Union. In 2022, the Ukraine International Airlines was grounded until Ukrainian Airspace becomes fit for commercial aviation, with most of its former aircraft parked at Kyiv Boryspil Airport.
Air France
Air France has roots in the establishment of France’s first airline, la Compagnie Générale Transaériennes (CGT) in 1909, which was absorbed by the Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes (CMA) in 1921. Air France was officially founded in 1933 via the merger of: Aéropostale (founded 1918), Farman Airlines (founded 1919), CINDA (founded 1920), Air Union (founded 1923 by merging CMA and Grands Express Aériens, founded 1919), and Air Orient (founded 1929). Air France retains this heritage by incorporating a seahorse on their livery, a remnant of Air Orient which used the same design on their aircraft.
Neos Airlines
Neos Airlines was founded in 2001 as a private Italian airline aiming to provide high quality service for tourists. It was a joint venture between the tourism company Alpitour s.p.a (based in Italy) and Germany’s TUI group (the latter clearly inspiring Neos’ current livery). Neos has expanded greatly since, now serving nearly 100 destinations and operating passenger, charter, and cargo flights world-wide. The company also became Italy’s first operator of the Boeing 787-9 in 2017 and currently boasts a modern all-Boeing fleet, one of the youngest in Europe at the time of this photo.
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways (renamed Virgin Atlantic before launch) and has an amusing history of mutual slander with British Airways. In the 1980s, Virgin’s owner, Richard Branson, installed a “BA doesn’t give a shiatsu” sign at LHR and a “BA can’t get it up” blimp over London. BA’s “Dirty Tricks” scandal of the ‘90s followed, which involved illegally accessing Virgin’s flight data, impersonating Virgin employees, and convincing their customers to switch to BA. Virgin has since added “Britain’s Flag Carrier” (a take at BA, the UK’s de facto flag carrier) to the nose of their aircraft.
LOT Polish Airlines
LOT Polish Airlines was founded in 1928 from the merger of Aerolot (founded 1922) and Aero (founded 1925). Although the 1930s also saw test flights to the Western US, the carrier wouldn’t make transatlantic routes common until the delivery of long-haul jetliners in the 1970s. LOT then became the first airline in Central and Eastern Europe to operate US aircraft with the delivery of the 767 in the late 1980s. In 2012, LOT also became the European launch customer of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, on which can be found the LOT’s famous crane logo - one of the oldest in the industry dating to 1929.
Condor Airlines
Condor Airlines was founded in 1955 as Deutsche Flugdienst with backing from four major German companies, including Deutsche Lufthansa. The airline was renamed Condor Flugdienst in 1961 and expanded throughout the remainder of the 20th century, becoming more focused on tourism/leisure travel. In the 2000s, Condor became a subsidiary of Thomas Cook, a leisure-focused British company, but this ended in 2019 when Thomas Cook liquidated following bankruptcy. Condor’s leisure brand remains, and in 2022, the airline rebranded with a new beach paraphernalia inspired livery.
ITA Airways
ITA Airways (Italia Trasporto Aereo) was founded in 2020 after the demise of its predecessor, Alitalia. Alitalia had been the flag carrier of Italy since its founding in 1946. Repeated financial struggles led to its take over by the Italian government in 2020, fearing that it would not survive into the future, let alone the COVID-19 pandemic. ITA Airways absorbed many assets from Alitalia, launching with previous Alitalia aircraft and a number of modern aircraft, including the A330neo and A350. Today, the Lufthansa Group and the Italian Government hold stakes in the company.
MNG Airlines
MNG Airlines was founded in 1996 as a privately-owned Turkish cargo airline and began cargo flights the following year, Initial flights launched with the A300 freight variant, eventually winning the company an Airbus award in 2006 for exceptional reliability with the aircraft. Their current A330F backbone fleet wasn’t introduced until 2013. MNG briefly transitioned to include passenger operations in 2002 before returning to cargo and cargo-charter only flights in 2006. Interestingly, the airline’s first transatlantic flight may have been between Frankfurt and Toronto in 1998.
SWISS International Airlines
SWISS was founded in 2002 after the demise of Switzerland’s former flag carrier, Swissair. Swissair has been operating since 1931 when two former Swiss airlines, Balair (founded in 1925) and Ad Astra Aero (founded in 1919), merged. For over 70 years, the airline gained a reputation as the "flying bank" due to its noteworthy financial stability. In 2002, however, (due, in part, to adopting a system of over-expansion), the airline filed for bankruptcy. Crossair, around since 1975 and a regional subsidiary of Swissair by 2002, renamed itself "Swiss International Airlines" shortly after, forming the current airline.
FlyPOP
FlyPop was established in 2014 with the goal of providing low-cost flights between the UK and India, a challenging endeavor given the difficulties of flying long-haul, inexpensive flights . The airline has since struggled with this goal, currently focusing on charter and cargo flights. Following the surge in cargo demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, FlyPop partnered with HiFly, a Portuguese charter airline providing wet-lease aircraft, to provide cargo flights using A330 aircraft. In fact, 9H-POP was the founding aircraft of this agreement, acquired from its original operator, Cebu Pacific.
Turkish Cargo
Turkish Cargo has been providing cargo operations for Turkish Airlines since its establishment, although the brand name “Turkish Cargo” likely originated decades later. Like its commercial counterpart, Turkish Cargo flies to more destinations than any other cargo airline in the world. The company operates a diverse cargo fleet of dedicated freight aircraft and takes advantage of cargo holds on Turkish Airlines’ hundreds-strong fleet of commercial aircraft. The brand has been awarded numerous awards for sustainability initiatives and excellence service as well.
Air Italy
Air Italy was founded in 2018 with operations ceased in 2020 following bankruptcy. The airline had roots to 1963 with the establishment of Alisarda, a regional Italian airline. The company was merged with Spanish airline Universair in 1991 to form Meridiana. The new airline later acquired the charter airline Air Italy (founded in 2005), and the two were rebranded into Air Italy in 2018. Air Italy became the second largest airline in Italy not long after, establishing itself as a financially sound airline poised to potentially become Italy’s next flag carrier, given Alitalia’s precarious financial position at the time.
Alitalia
Alitalia was founded in 1946 as Italian International Airlines. It became “Alitalia” in 1957 upon merging with another Italian airline, Linee Aérée Italiane. “Alitalia” comes from the Italian words "Ali" (“Wings”) and "Italia" (“Italy”). By the 2000s, the airline faced bankruptcy and reemerged post-2009 as a privately-backed carrier until 2021, when, again facing bankruptcy, Alitalia ceased all operations. Many of its assets transferred to the new state-owned carrier, ITA. From the ‘60s and until its demise, the Pope most frequently travelled on a chartered Alitalia aircraft, a role now largely bestowed to ITA.
Wamos Air
Wamos Air was founded in 2003 as Pullmantur Air, a Spanish charter company. The company rebranded to Wamos Air in 2014 and currently focuses exclusively on charter and cargo operations, having converted to an all Airbus A330 fleet in 2022. The airline has provided additional service to many notable airlines over the years, including Air New Zealand, Philippine Airlines, Air Europa, Iberia, and TAP Air Portugal. Such arrangements typically see charter airlines like Wamos recruited to service particular routes owing to supply chain issues, among other nuances, to ensure airlines meet demand.
Azores Airlines
Azores Airlines was founded in 1941 as Sociedade Açoreana de Estudos Aéreos (Azorean Society of Air Studies) to improve connectivity of the Azores island chain. The company was renamed Sociedade Açoreana de Transportes Aéreos (“SATA”) in 1947, which remained (updated as SATA Air Azores in 1987) until a rebrand to Azores Airlines in 2015. In 2021, Azores broke two records with its new A321LR fleet - the longest flight (Oakland-Columbia) and the greatest flight duration (Lisbon-Bogota) of the type. The airline’s logo is an artistic depiction of the nine main islands making up the Azores archipelago.
TAP Air Portugal
TAP (Transportes Aéreos Portugueses) was founded in 1945 to better serve Portugal in the post-war era as well as Portugal’s many African colonies like Angola and Mozambique. Its first flight was launched in 1947 from Lisbon to Madrid using the DC-3. TAP then inaugurated its first domestic service (Lisbon-Ponto) in 1947. In the 1960s, TAP rapidly modernized its fleet with the addition of mid century jetliners like the Boeing 707, 727, and Sud Aviation Caravel, allowing the airline to further its trans-Atlantic expansion. By the late 1960s, TAP became the first European airline to operate an all-jet fleet. Today, TAP is one of the largest European operators of the Airbus A330neo.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
SAS (Scandinavian Air Services) was founded in 1946 following the merging of transatlantic flights of 3 Nordic flag carriers: Norwegian Airlines (Det Norske Luftfartselskap), Swedish Intercontinental Airlines (Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik), and Danish Airlines (Det Danske Luftfartselskab) which were founded in 1927, 1943, and 1918, respectively. This expanded into all flights in 1948, and the 3 airlines completely merged into the current SAS Holdings in 1951. Thus, SAS now serves as the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The airline was also a founding member of Star Alliance in 1997.
Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus was founded in 1936, with “Lingus” taken from the Irish “loingeas” meaning “fleet”. In 1960, Aer Lingus entered the jet age with the Boeing 720, allowing the airline to improve connectivity to the eastern United States and Canada (Aer Lingus first launched transatlantic flights in the late 1950s). It wasn’t until 1965 that Aer Lingus’ classic green shamrock was introduced on the vertical tail fin. Interestingly, Aer Lingus was poised to become the launch customer of the A321XLR, but internal pilot issues led to Iberia receiving the first aircraft off the type in late 2024.
Pegasus Airlines
Pegasus Airlines was founded in 1990 as a Turkish charter carrier from a joint venture between Aer Lingus and two Turkish businesses, Net and Silkar. The company expanded to serve Turkey’s tourism industry by the mid 1990s. During this expansion, Pegasus became the first Turkish carrier to order the Boeing 737 Next Generation family. The name “Pegasus” stems from the mythical Greek horse, Poseidon’s son. Interestingly, in the 2000s, the airline began naming their aircraft after newly born baby girls to Pegasus staff. Today, the airline is Turkey’s largest low-cost carrier.
Aegean Airlines
Aegean Airlines was founded in 1995 as a VIP charter service, superseding Aegean Aviation, founded in 1992. By 1999, the airline began scheduled passenger flights and acquired Air Greece, founded in 1994. In 2001, Aegean acquired Cronus Airlines, another Greek airline founded in 1994, and, in 2010, attempted to merge with Olympic Air, founded initially in 1957 as Olympic Airways and the previous flag carrier of Greece. This was blocked by the European Commission citing anti-competition concerns but later retracted in 2013. Although Olympic Air continued as a subsidiary, Aegean became the de facto carrier of Greece.
Icelandair
Icelandair dates to 1937, when Flugfélag Akureyrar (flight company of Akureyri, an Icelandic Island) was founded. They rebranded as Flugfélag Íslands (flight company of Iceland) in 1940, but 1944 saw another airline, Loftleiðir (“Skyways”) founded which competed so fiercely that the Government attempted a failed merger in the 1950s to prevent their mutual collapse. Following the 1970s oil crisis, the airlines did merge, forming Flugleiðir (branded Icelandair). Today, they are stationed in an expanded building at KEF originally built by the British after invading Iceland in 1940.
Ryanair
Ryanair was founded in 1884 as “Danren Enterprises,” shortly renamed ‘Ryanair.” Suffering financial setbacks, Ryanair transitioned to an ultra-low cost carrier modeled after Southwest Airlines in 1990. Ryanair employs a multitude of tactics to reduce air fares, including operating an all Boeing 737 fleet (reducing maintenance and training costs), reducing turnover times to 30 mins (increasing flights per day), and cutting passenger benefits. Today, the Ryanair group is the largest European airline by fleet (>600), daily flights (>3000), and passenger carrier (>180M in 2024).
Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) was founded in 1993 as a successor to Busy Bee, a regional airline operating charter flights in Norway which declared bankruptcy in 1992. Busy Bee was founded in 1966, and its parent airline, Brathens, had operated since 1946. In 2002, NAS transitioned to a low-cost model, and by 2012, NAS was unique as it flew a fleet of several 787s to transatlantic destinations as low cost, long-haul flights. Unfortunately, following solvency stemming from COVID-19, the airline retired these operations but remained one of largest European low-cost airlines operating short-haul flights.
Finnair
Finnair was founded in 1923 as Aero. During the Second World War, Finnair made fame as a significant portion of its passengers flying from domestic airports were Finnish children fleeing the war. The company began using the name “Finnish Air Lines” on its livery in 1947 and Finnair in 1953 (officially changed in 1968). In the early 1980s, Finnair historically operated the first direct flight from Western Europe to Japan. Due to Soviet airspace constraints, all other airlines had to stop in Anchorage or Moscow. Finnair, however, could simply fly north next to the North Pole, fitting as the “airline of Santa Claus.”
Iberia
Iberia was founded in 1927 on a Madrid-Barcelona route. The airline provided limited operations during the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s, where it served the Nationalist party on domestic routes mainly between cities under nationalist control. It wasn’t until the end of the war, in 1939, that Iberia launched its first international route, from Madrid to Lisbon. The airline continued to grow in the 20th century, culminating with the largest single Airbus order at the time in 1998 for 76 aircraft in 1998. Since then, Iberia has been recognized as the most punctual of all major airlines in the world on multiple occasions. More recently, Iberia became the launch customer of the A321XLR.
Austrian Airlines
Austrian Airlines was founded in 1957 from the merger of Air Austria and Austrian Airways, with Austrian airways dating to 1923. Following the Austrian State Treaty of 1955, which established Austria as a sovereign nation and ended Allied occupation of the country after World War 2, the country was left with no national airline, leading to Austrian Airways and Air Austria jumping at the opportunity. Today, Austrian has focused on fleet modernization, continuing its previous slogan as “the friendly airline”, and has been purchased by the Lufthansa Group. The arrival of Dreamliners in the 2020s has helped to expand its network even further.
Eurowings
Eurowings was founded in 1993 by the merger of Nürnberger Flugdienst (NFD) and Reise und Industrieflug (RFG) which were founded in the 1970s and operated commuter, air ambulance, and cargo services. Eurowings began operating regional European flights, and its name was chosen by an employee of the company. The airline transitioned to a low-cost “value” carrier in 2014, fitting into a niche separate from traditional ultra-low cost airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet. Today, the company is the largest low-cost carrier in Germany and a significant member of the Lufthansa Group
Air Malta
Air Malta was founded in 1973 as the national carrier for the Maltese island chain. Prior to this, a series of private airlines - for example, Air Malta Ltd (founded 1947) and Malta Airways (founded 1947) - provided a fragmented commercial aviation market in Malta. By the early 1970s, the Maltese government, in partnership with Pakistan International Airlines, launched the new carrier, hoping to improve air connectivity of the country. In 2024, however, Air Malta ceased operations, only to be replaced immediately by KM Malta Airlines, using the same branding, in an effort to bring financial stability back to the carrier.
Brussels Airlines
Brussels Airlines, the flag carrier of Belgium, was founded in 2006 from the merger of SN Brussels Airlines (SNBA), the country’s previous national airline, and Virgin Express, a Belgian airline operating under the Virgin Group. SNBA was established not long before, superseding Sabena in 2002 after its bankruptcy. Sabena had been the Belgian flag carrier since its founding in 1923. In 2009, the expansive Lufthansa Group acquired a minority stake in the company. Today, the company is wholly owned by the Lufthansa Group, forming one of the largest airline conglomerates in the world, and still uses the IATA code SN, just as its predecessor.
Air Serbia
Air Serbia dates to 1927 when Aeroput was established as the flag carrier of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (or Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes). The airline expanded across Europe rapidly but following WWII was rebranded JAT Yugoslav Airlines, the flag carrier for the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the airline eventually rebranded as JAT airways in 2003, the flag carrier of the new country, Serbia and Montenegro. After Montenegro declared independence in 2006, JAT became the national carrier of Serbia and was renamed Air Serbia in 2013.
TAROM
TAROM (Transporturile Aeriene Române) began as CFRNA (French-Romanian Company for Air Aviation) in 1920. CFRNA rebranded to SNNA (Serviciul Național de Navigație Aeriană) in 1928 and to LARES (Liniile Aeriene Române Exploatate de Stat) in 1930. By 1937, LARES merged with its largest Competitor, SARTA (Societatea Anonimă Română de Transporturi Aeriene). Following WWII, LARES rebranded once again to TARS (Transporturi Aeriene Româno-Sovietice) as the USSR expanded. In 1954, TARS was rebranded to TAROM, which expanded across Europe and later the Atlantic in the 1960s.
Loganair
Loganair was founded in 1962 by Willie Logan with a single propeller prop aircraft. The airline expanded to serve many destinations in Scotland. By 1983, Loganair was acquired by British Midland Airways (founded in 1964 with roots to Air Schools Limited in 1938), which allowed the airline to launch new flights to destinations in England and Northern Ireland. Loganair grew again in 1994 as it became a franchisee of British Airways, allowing it to operate certain British Airways flights. This was until 2008, when Loganair became a franchisee of FlyBe, a now defunct British regional carrier. Loganair now serves as the de facto airline of Scotland.
Braathens Regional Airlines
Braathens Regional Airlines (shortened to BRA, meaning “good” in Swedish) was founded in 2016 as a Swedish carrier serving mainly domestic destinations from the merger of Braathens Regional Aviation (founded in 1981 as Malmo Aviation) and Sverigeflyg (founded in 2001 as 7 regional airlines). In 2025, the airline transitioned to an ACMI (wet-lease) charter service for SAS seeking additional capacity in their fleet, although BRA may also wet lease to other carriers in the future. BRA cited an underwhelming domestic market in Sweden for the change, with passenger volumes in Sweden still lagging pre-pandemic levels.
PopulAir
PopulAir was founded in 2004 as Amapola Flyg, a regional airline providing mainly domestic cargo operations throughout Sweden. Today, it operates both cargo and passenger services but it initially only provided freight operations. In fact, the airline was superseded postal operations from Falcon Air, a now defunct Swedish passenger and freight airline founded in 1986. Amapola began passenger flights in 2018 and rebranded to PopulAir in 2023. The airline’s new green and white colours represent the “green forests and white expanses,” respectively, “of the Nordic region.”