List of airlines by foundation date

This is a list of airlines by foundation date, founded before 1927.

The date of the first airline service may differ from the foundation date.

Airline	Established	Ceased operations	Notes
DELAG	01909-11-16 November 16, 1909	01935 1935	Operated Zeppelins, aircraft taken over by state-sponsored airline.
Aircraft Transport and Travel	01916-10-05 October 5, 1916	01921 1921	The first international scheduled service in 1919.
Chalk's Ocean Airways	01917 1917	02007 2007	Became Chalk's International Airlines.
Det Danske Luftfartselskab	01918-10-29 October 29, 1918	01946 1946	Services started August 7, 1920. Part of SAS since 1946.
Société des lignes Latécoère	01918-12-25 December 25, 1918	01932 1932	Rebranded as Aéropostale in 1927. In 1933 its assets were incorporated into Air France.
Svenska Lufttrafik	01919-02-07 February 7, 1919	01921 1921
Lignes Aériennes Farman	01919-02-08 February 8, 1919	01933-10-07 October 7, 1933	Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France.
Grands Express Aériens	01919-03-20 March 20, 1919	01923-01-01 January 1, 1923	Merged with Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes to form Air Union.
Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes	01919-04-18 April 18, 1919	01923-01-01 January 1, 1923	Merged with Grands Express Aériens to form Air Union.
Daimler Airway	01919-06-07 June 7, 1919	01924 1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways.
KLM	01919-10-07 October 7, 1919	Still in operation	Operations stopped during World War II apart from the operations in the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean. Merged with Air France in 2004.
SCADTA	01919-12-05 December 5, 1919	01940-06-14 June 14, 1940	Merged with SACO to form Avianca on June 14, 1940.
Handley Page Transport	01919 1919	01924-03-31 March 31, 1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways.
Instone Air Line	01919 1919	01924 1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways.
/ Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne	01920-04-23 April 23, 1920	01933 1933	Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France.
Qantas	01920-11-16 November 16, 1920	Still in operation	World's oldest continuously operating airline.
Mexicana	01921-07-12 July 12, 1921	Still in operation
West Australian Airways	01921-12-05 December 5, 1921	01936-06-12 June 12, 1936	Became part of Australian National Airways.
Aeromarine West Indies Airways	01921 1921	01924 1924
Malert	01922-11-19 November 19, 1922	01944 1944
Air Union	01923-01-01 January 1, 1923	01933-10-07 October 7, 1933	Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France.
Aeroflot	01923-02-09 February 9, 1923	Still in operation
SABENA	01923-05-23 May 23, 1923	02002-02 February 2002	Succeeded by SN Brussels Airlines.
British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd	01923-08 August 1923	01924 1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways.
Czech Airlines	01923-10-06 October 6, 1923	Still in operation
Finnair	01923-11-01 November 1, 1923	Still in operation	Founded as Aero O/Y, name changed to Finnair in 1968.
Zakavia	01923 1923	01925 1925
Imperial Airways	01924 1924	01939 1939	Amalgamated to form British Overseas Airways Corporation - itself merged to found British Airways.
AB Aerotransport	01923-06-02 June 2, 1923	01950 1950	Formed SAS.
Tajik Air	01923-09-03 September 3, 1923	Still in operation
Delta Air Lines	01924-05-30 May 30, 1924	Still in operation	Founded as Huff Daland Dusters.
CIDNA	01925-01-01 January 1, 1925	01933-10-07 October 7, 1933	The former company - CFRNA (French-Romanian Company For Air Navigation) was the first international transcontinental company. Incorporated into Air France.
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano	01925-09-15 September 15, 1925	02007-04-01 April 1, 2007	Airline is going to be replaced with Boliviana de Aviación.
Western Air Express	01925 1925	01986-09-09 September 9, 1986
Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft	01926-01-06 January 6, 1926	01945 1945	Operations suspended following Germany's defeat. Rebranded on August 6, 1954, as Lufthansa. Resumed scheduled service on April 1, 1955.
Western Canadian Airways	01926-03 March 1926	01930 1930	Amalgamated with several Eastern Canadian carriers forming Canadian Airways.
Varney Airlines	01926-04-06 April 6, 1926	01934 1934	Merged with National Air Transport to form United Airlines following the Air Mail scandal in 1933 and the Air Mail Act of 1934.
Northwest Airlines	01926 1926	Still in operation	Merging with Delta Airlines.
Colonial Air Transport	01926 1926	01930 1930	Formed American Airlines.
Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul	01926 1926	01993 1993	Formed Varig.

Notes