Oldest Airlines Still Operating

The world's oldest commercial airlines that are still flying today, ranked by founding date. Survival in commercial aviation is rare — most carriers from the early 20th century have long since folded or merged.

Airline

11 days ago

Updated: 01/10/2026

Rank	Airline	Country	Founded	Years active
1	KLM Royal Dutch Airlines	Netherlands	1919	107
2	Avianca	Colombia	1919	107
3	Qantas	Australia	1920	106
4	Aeroflot – Russian Airlines	Russia	1923	103
5	Czech Airlines	Czechia	1923	103
6	Finnair	Finland	1923	103
7	Delta Air Lines	United States	1924	102
8	United Airlines	United States	1926	100
9	Jat Airways	Serbia	1927	99
10	Iberia Airlines	Spain	1927	99
11	LOT Polish Airlines	Poland	1929	97
12	LATAM Airlines	Chile	1929	97
13	American Airlines	United States	1930	96
14	Brussels Airlines	Belgium	1931	95
15	Air India	India	1932	94
16	Air France	France	1933	93
17	Turkish Airlines	Turkey	1933	93
18	Aer Lingus	Ireland	1936	90
19	Ethiopian Airlines	Ethiopia	1945	81
20	Cathay Pacific	Hong Kong	1946	80
21	SAS Scandinavian Airlines	Sweden	1946	80
22	Singapore Airlines Cargo	Singapore	1947	79
23	Malaysia Airlines	Malaysia	1947	79
24	El Al Israel Airlines	Israel	1948	78
25	Japan Airlines Domestic	Japan	1951	75
26	Lufthansa	Germany	1953	73
27	Korean Air	South Korea	1962	64
28	British Airways	United Kingdom	1974	52
29	Air China	China	1988	38
30	SWISS	Switzerland	2002	24

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