List of airlines by foundation

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

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

Airline	Established	Ceased operations	Notes
DELAG	November 16, 1909	1935	Operated Zeppelins, aircraft taken over by state-sponsored airline
Aircraft Transport and Travel	October 5, 1916	1921	The first international scheduled service in 1919
Chalk's Ocean Airways	1917	2007	Became Chalk's International Airlines
Det Danske Luftfartselskab	October 29, 1918	1946	Services started August 7, 1920. Part of SAS since 1946
Société des lignes Latécoère	December 25, 1918	1932	Rebranded as Aéropostale in 1927. In 1933 its assets were incorporated into Air France
Svenska Lufttrafik	February 7, 1919	1921
Lignes Aériennes Farman	February 8, 1919	October 7, 1933	Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France
Grands Express Aériens	March 20, 1919	January 1, 1923	Merged with Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes to form Air Union
Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes	April 18, 1919	January 1, 1923	Merged with Grands Express Aériens to form Air Union
Daimler Airway	June 7, 1919	1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways
KLM	October 7, 1919		Operations stopped during World War II, merged with Air France in 2004
SCADTA	December 5, 1919	June 14, 1940	Merged with SACO to form Avianca on June 14, 1940.
Handley Page Transport	1919	March 31, 1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways
Instone Air Line	1919	1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways
Qantas	November 16, 1920
Instone Air Line	1919	1924
Mexicana	July 12, 1921
West Australian Airways	December 5, 1921	June 12, 1936	Became part of Australian National Airways
Aeromarine West Indies Airways	1921	1924
Malert	November 19, 1922	1944
Air Union	January 1, 1923	October 7, 1933	Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France
Aeroflot	February 9, 1923
SABENA	May 23, 1923	February 2002	Succeeded by SN Brussels Airlines
British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd	August 1923	1924	Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways
Czech Airlines	October 6, 1923
Finnair	November 1, 1923
Zakavia	1923	1925
Imperial Airways	1924	1939	Amalgamated to form British Overseas Airways Corporation
AB Aerotransport	June 2, 1923	1950	Formed SAS
Tajikistan Airlines	September 3, 1923
CIDNA	January 1, 1925	October 7, 1933	The former company - CFRNA (French-Romanian Company For Air Navigation) was the first international transcontinental company. Incorporated into Air France
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano	September 15, 1925
Western Air Express	1925	September 9, 1986
Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft	January 6, 1926	1945	Operations suspended following Germany's defeat. Rebranded on August 6, 1954 as Lufthansa Resumed scheduled service on April 1, 1955
Western Canadian Airways	March 1926	1930	Amalgamated with several Eastern Canadian carriers forming Canadian Airways
Varney Airlines	April 6, 1926	1934	Merged with National Air Transport to form United Airlines following the Air Mail Scandal in 1933 and the Air Mail Act of 1934.
Colonial Air Transport	1926	1930	Formed American Airlines
Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul	1926	1993	Formed Varig

Notes