The Lufthansa Group, which owns Germany’s national airline, also owns several other airlines, having most recently acquired Brussels Airlines, the flag carrier of Belgium. The Lufthansa Group also owns and operates Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines, giving them a national foothold in four separate countries. The acquisition of Brussels Airlines helped Lufthansa expand their network further in Africa.

At just 8.1 square miles and with a population of around 12,000, Nauru is the smallest country by both area and population with a national flag carrier. Nauru Airlines has a fleet of five Boeing 737s, three of which are used for transporting cargo, which makes up the bulk of the airline’s flights. Nauru Airlines also runs a regular passenger service to Brisbane, Australia.

Qantas, Australia’s national airline, derived its name from Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. — an airline that began serving those regions starting in 1920. In 1947, the Australian government purchased Qantas and designated it as the country’s official flag carrier. By 1992, Qantas became the country’s largest airline after acquiring Australian Airlines.

The oryx is Qatar’s national animal and also serves as the logo for its national airline, Qatar Airways. The airline’s in-flight entertainment system is even called Oryx One. The oryx had gone extinct in the region in 1972 but was reintroduced in 1982 thanks to donations from a zoo in Phoenix and a private collection in Saudi Arabia.

Serving Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) was established in 1946 as part of an agreement between three existing carriers at the time: Det Danske Luftfartselskab, Den Norske Luftfartselskap, and Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB. Those three individual carriers merged operations in 1951. In the early 21st century, SAS split back into separate carriers, but all continue to operate under the SAS name.

Both Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways share the distinction of being the national airline of the United Arab Emirates. Emirates was founded on March 25, 1985, and has a major hub in Dubai. In response, Sheikh Khalifa — the Emir of Abu Dhabi — formulated plans for a competing airline, and Ehitad was founded in July 2003.

British Airways revolutionized the long-haul travel industry in 1995 with the introduction of fully lie-flat beds on their Boeing 747 and DC-10 fleet. The initial design was patented, giving them an advantage over rival airlines who mostly utilized recliner seats. In 2003, Virgin Atlantic introduced its own fully flat beds, and the industry subsequently caught up to British Airways.

Historically, flag carriers were state-owned airlines that represented their countries abroad, though today many are publicly or privately owned. They retain a strong connection with a country’s national identity. Founded in November 1948 and named after a Biblical phrase meaning “to the above,” Israel’s El Al began operations on July 31, 1949, with flights from Tel Aviv to Rome and Paris.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law, ending the U.S. government’s role in managing the industry. Prior to that, Pan Am had largely been considered the country’s unofficial flag-carrying airline, but in the wake of the law, they struggled to compete and ultimately ceased operations in 1991. Today, there is too much competition for any one carrier to be considered the flag carrier.

Founded on October 7, 1919 — just two months ahead of Colombia’s Avianca — KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the world’s oldest airline in continuous operation. The national flag carrier of the Netherlands, the airline's first flight hit the skies on May 17, 1920, and over a century later, KLM has expanded to a fleet of more than 110 airplanes serving around 150 destinations.