Airline

An airline is a business that regularly transports people or goods by air. Airlines operate aircraft to provide these services. Many passenger airlines also carry cargo in the lower compartments of their planes, while cargo-only airlines handle freight exclusively. Airlines are typically required to hold an air operating certificate or license from a government aviation authority. They can operate on a scheduled basis or as charter services.

The ownership of airlines has changed over time. Until the 1930s, most were privately owned. From the 1940s through the 1980s, major airlines were often government-owned. After the mid-1980s, large-scale privatization became common. Since the 1980s, there has been a trend toward major airline mergers and the creation of partnerships or alliances for codeshare agreements, where two airlines offer and operate the same flight. The largest alliances are Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and Oneworld. These alliances coordinate passenger services like lounges and frequent-flyer programs, offer special interline tickets, and often engage in extensive codesharing, sometimes systemwide.

**History**

**The first airlines**

DELAG, Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft, was the world’s first commercial passenger airline. Founded on November 16, 1909, it began services in June 1910 and operated regularly until 1935. DELAG used airships built by the Zeppelin Company. Compagnie générale transaérienne (CGT), founded on October 10, 1909, is the oldest airline company. It started cargo operations in April 1911 and began regular passenger flights in March 1913—weekly return trips using fixed-wing aircraft. CGT was the first of several companies that later merged to form Air France. A fixed-wing scheduled airline started in the United States in January 1914. The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line, piloted by Tony Jannus, flew between St. Petersburg, Florida, and Tampa, Florida.

**Europe**

**Beginnings**

The British airship HM Airship R34 was the first aircraft of any type to carry passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. On July 2, 1919, it left Scotland, traveled to New York, and returned. Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), formed by George Holt Thomas in 1916, was a fixed-wing airline. Through a series of takeovers and mergers, it became the earliest predecessor of British Airways. Using a fleet of former military Airco DH.4A biplanes modified to carry two passengers, it operated relief flights between Folkestone and Ghent, Belgium. On July 15, 1919, the company flew a proving flight across the English Channel, despite a lack of support from the British government. Flown by Lt. H Shaw in an Airco DH.9 between RAF Hendon and Paris–Le Bourget Airport, the flight took 2 hours and 30 minutes at £21 per passenger. On August 25, 1919, the company used DH.16s to pioneer a regular service from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome to Paris's Le Bourget—the first daily international service in the world. The airline soon gained a reputation for reliability despite bad weather and attracted European competition. In November 1919, it won the first British civil airmail contract. Six Royal Air Force Airco DH.9A aircraft were lent to the company to operate the airmail service between Hawkinge and Cologne. In 1920, they were returned to the Royal Air Force. Other British competitors quickly followed. Handley Page Transport was established in 1919 and used converted wartime Type O/400 bombers, which could carry 12 passengers, to run a London-Paris passenger service.

Société des lignes Latécoère, a predecessor of Air France later known as Aéropostale, started its first airmail service to Spain in late 1924. Société Générale des Transports Aériens was created in late 1919 by the Farman brothers. It began a weekly service between Paris and Brussels on March 22, 1919—the world's first international commercial aviation service. The Farman F.60 Goliath plane flew scheduled services from Toussus-le-Noble to Kenley, near Croydon, England. Another early French airline was Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes, established in 1919 by Louis-Charles Breguet, offering mail and freight service between Le Bourget Airport, Paris, and Lesquin Airport, Lille.

The first German airline to use heavier-than-air aircraft was Deutsche Luft-Reederei (DLR), established in 1917 and starting operations in February 1919. In its first year, DLR operated regularly scheduled flights on routes totaling nearly 1000 miles. By 1921, the DLR network was more than 3000 km (1865 miles) long and included destinations in the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and the Baltic Republics. Another important German airline was Junkers Luftverkehr, which began operations in 1921. It was a division of the aircraft manufacturer Junkers and became a separate company in 1924. It operated joint-venture airlines in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The Dutch airline KLM made its first flight in 1920 and is the oldest airline still using its original name. Established by aviator Albert Plesman, it was immediately awarded a "Royal" predicate from Queen Wilhelmina. Its first flight was from Croydon Airport, London, to Amsterdam, using a leased DH-16 from Aircraft Transport and Travel, carrying two British journalists and newspapers. In 1921, KLM started scheduled services. In Finland, the charter establishing Aero O/Y (now Finnair) was signed in Helsinki on September 12, 1923. Junkers F.13 D-335 became the company's first aircraft when Aero took delivery of it on March 14, 1924. The first flight, between Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia, took place on March 20, 1924, one week later. In the Soviet Union, the Chief Administration of the Civil Air Fleet was established in 1921.