Flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transportation company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the 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, 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 time when countries established state-owned airline companies. Governments then took the lead due to the high capital costs of establishing and running airlines. 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. Most of these 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 the right 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.
In the last two decades, however, many of these airlines have since been corporatized as a public company or a state-owned enterprise, or 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 |
| Ariana Afghan Airlines | Majority | ||
| Air Albania | |||
| Air Algérie | State-owned | ||
| TAAG Angola Airlines | Majority | ||
| Aerolíneas Argentinas | State-owned | ||
| Qantas | - | State-owned until 1992. | |
| Virgin Australia | - | ||
| Austrian Airlines | None – owned by Lufthansa | State-owned until 5 December 2008. | |
| Bahamasair | State-owned | ||
| Gulf Air | State-owned | ||
| Biman Bangladesh Airlines | Public-limited company | State-owned until 23 July 2007. | |
| Belavia | State-owned | ||
| Brussels Airlines | None – owned by Lufthansa | Was state-owned in its original incarnation | |
| Druk Air | - | ||
| Boliviana de Aviación | State-owned | ||
| Air Botswana | State-owned | ||
| Royal Brunei Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Bulgaria Air | Minority State-owned | ||
| Air Burkina | |||
| Cambodia Angkor Air | Majority | ||
| Camair-Co | |||
| Air Canada | - | State-owned until 1989. | |
| TACV | |||
| Cayman Airways | State-owned | ||
| Chadian Airlines | Majority | ||
| LATAM Chile | - | State-owned until September 1989. | |
| Air China | Majority, in which: | State-owned until 2004, now indirectly controlled through parent companies. | |
| Avianca | - | ||
| Croatia Airlines | Majority | ||
| Cubana de Aviación | |||
| Czech Airlines | - | ||
| Congo Airways | State-owned | ||
| Joint venture | |||
| Joint venture | |||
| Joint venture | |||
| Air Djibouti | Joint venture | ||
| EgyptAir | State-owned | ||
| CEIBA Intercontinental | |||
| Eritrean Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Nordica | State-owned | ||
| Eswatini Airlink | Joint venture | ||
| Ethiopian Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Atlantic Airways | |||
| Fiji Airways | Majority | ||
| Finnair | Majority | ||
| Air France | Minority | ||
| Air Tahiti Nui | Majority | ||
| Georgian Airways | - | ||
| Lufthansa | - | State-owned until 1994; remaining government shares were sold in 1997. | |
| Aegean Airlines | |||
| Air Greenland | |||
| Aurigny Air Services | State-owned | ||
| Caribbean Airlines | - | ||
| Cathay Pacific | Minority Minority | ||
| Icelandair | |||
| Air India | State-owned | ||
| Garuda Indonesia | Majority | State-owned until February 2011. | |
| Aer Lingus | None – owned by IAG | State-owned until September 2006. | |
| Iran Air | State-owned | ||
| Iraqi Airways | |||
| El Al | Minority | State-owned until June 2004. | |
| Alitalia | Minority | State-owned until 2008, and indirectly controlled through a state-owned company since 2013. | |
| Air Côte d'Ivoire | Minority | ||
| Caribbean Airlines | Minority | ||
| Japan Airlines | - | State-owned until 1987. | |
| Royal Jordanian | |||
| Air Astana | Majority | ||
| Kenya Airways | Minority | ||
| Air Kiribati | |||
| Kuwait Airways | State-owned | ||
| Lao Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Air Baltic | Majority | ||
| Middle East Airlines | Majority | ||
| Afriqiyah Airways | State-owned | ||
| Libyan Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Luxair | Majority | ||
| Air Macau | Minority | ||
| Air Madagascar | Majority | ||
| Malawian Airlines | Majority | ||
| Malaysia Airlines | State-owned through Khazanah Nasional | ||
| Maldivian | |||
| Air Malta | Majority | ||
| Mauritania Airlines | |||
| Air Mauritius | |||
| Aeroméxico | - | State-owned until 2007. | |
| Air Moldova | |||
| MIAT Mongolian Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Montenegro Airlines | |||
| Royal Air Maroc | State-owned | ||
| State-owned | |||
| Myanmar National Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Air Namibia | State-owned | ||
| Nauru Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Nepal Airlines | State-owned | ||
| KLM | Minority | ||
| Air New Zealand | Majority | State-owned until 1989, partially re-nationalized in 2001. | |
| Air Koryo | State-owned | ||
| Oman Air | Majority | ||
| State-owned | |||
| Copa Airlines | - | ||
| Air Niugini | |||
| Philippine Airlines | |||
| LOT Polish Airlines | State-owned | ||
| TAP Air Portugal | Majority | ||
| Qatar Airways | State-owned | ||
| Equatorial Congo Airlines | Majority | ||
| Air Austral | |||
| TAROM | Majority | ||
| Aeroflot | Majority | ||
| RwandAir | State-owned | ||
| SVG Air | |||
| Samoa Airways | State-owned | ||
| STP Airways | - | ||
| Saudia | Majority | ||
| Air Senegal | |||
| Air Serbia | Majority | ||
| Air Seychelles | - | ||
| Solomon Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Singapore Airlines | Majority | ||
| South African Airways | State-owned | ||
| Korean Air | - | State-owned until 1969. | |
| Iberia | Minority | ||
| SriLankan Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Sudan Airways | State-owned | ||
| Surinam Airways | State-owned | ||
| Swiss International Air Lines | None – owned by Lufthansa | ||
| Syrian Air | State-owned | ||
| China Airlines | - | State-owned until 1991. 51.28% held by non-profit Civic Aviation Development Foundation. | |
| Air Tanzania | State-owned | ||
| Thai Airways International | Majority | ||
| Caribbean Airlines | Majority | ||
| Tunisair | Majority | ||
| Turkish Airlines | Minority | ||
| Turkmenistan Airlines | State-owned | ||
| Uganda Airlines | |||
| Etihad Airways | State-owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi | ||
| Emirates | State-owned by the Government of Dubai through the Investment Corporation of Dubai. | ||
| British Airways | - | State-owned until 1987. | |
| Uzbekistan Airways | Majority | ||
| Conviasa | |||
| Vietnam Airlines | Majority | ||
| Air Vanuatu | |||
| Yemenia | Majority | ||
| Air Zimbabwe | State-owned |