FLAG CARRIER

A 'flag carrier' or ''de facto flag carrier'', refers to:
#A transportation company, such as a shipping or airline company, that is registered in a given state. Example: "American Airlines, while a private firm, is a U.S. flag carrier."
#A state-run, state-owned or state-designated transport company or organization, specifically (though not universally required) showing the state flag apparent for public view (state in this context used to mean any principality or country). Example: "Air Canada is its namesake's flag carrier."

Contents

Importance of flag carriers

List of national flag carriers

Notes

External links

Importance of flag carriers

The term "flag carrier" is a legacy of the time when most countries had a state-owned airline. However, many of these airlines have been privatised and the airline industry deregulated, allowing multiple airlines to compete within each country's market. This has rendered the term less important than it was in the past.
The legacy of flag carriers can still be seen by the restrictions in international air travel through bilateral agreements between countries (see Open skies), exemplified by the Bermuda Agreements—a set of air services agreements between the United States and the United Kingdom originally signed in 1945 (Bermuda I) but revised in 1977 (Bermuda II) to redress the balance of air service advantage by limiting the number of airlines which could operate on certain routes.
Some countries (notably the United States of America) have legislation that requires the use of a national flag carrier, where possible, when travelling using government funds. One example is the Fly America Act.

List of national flag carriers

The chart below list the status of the three criteria to be considered a "flag carrier", designation as a national airlines either officially or based on history, whether or not it carries the national flag on its aircraft and whether or not it is state-owned.

Notes

1. http://grupo.iberia.es/portal/site/grupoiberia/menuitem.5dcd178a7f0a73be19736c10d21061ca/
2. USA: The U.S. government has never officially recognized a single flag carrier, but Pan American was widely considered the ''de facto'' flag carrier before its 1991 bankruptcy.

External links

★ Wright State University Sample Federal funds usage for air carriers.

★ International Air Transport Association Organisation formerly responsible for managing air services agreements and international fares.