List of government-owned airlines

The following is a list of government-owned airlines. The practice of government ownership of airlines, particularly flag carrier airlines, occurs in many countries. The following is a list of both airlines currently owned by a government, and former government-owned airlines.

Current government-owned airlines

Airline	Country	Stake
Aeroflot	Russian Federation	As of July 2025: [update] 73.8% [1]
Aerogaviota	Cuba	100%[ citation needed ]
Aerolíneas Argentinas	Argentina	As of December 2014: [update] 100% [2]
Afriqiyah Airways	Libya	100% [3]
Air Algérie	Algeria	As of December 2013: [update] 100% [4]
Air Astana	Kazakhstan	51%
Air Botswana	Botswana	100%[ citation needed ]
Air Calédonie	New Caledonia (France)	52.45%[ citation needed ]
Air Cambodia	Cambodia	51%
Air Canada	Canada	6.4%
Air China	China	53.46% [5]
Air Côte d'Ivoire	Ivory Coast	As of April 2017: [update] 58% [6]
Air Djibouti	Djibouti	Djibouti Government minor shareholder [7]
Air France	France	28.6% (through the Air France–KLM holding company). Dutch state has a 9.3% stake [8]
Air Greenland (Greenlandair)	Greenland	100% [9]
Air Kiribati	Kiribati	100% [10]
Air Koryo	North Korea	100%
Air Macau	Macau	66.9% Air China (majority shareholder - Chinese government) 5% (minority shareholder - government of Macau) [11]
Air Madagascar	Madagascar
Air Mauritius	Mauritius
Air Montenegro	Montenegro	100%
Air New Zealand	New Zealand	As of March 2020: [update] 52% [12]
Air Niugini	Papua New Guinea	60% [11]
Air Serbia	Serbia	100% [13]
Air Seychelles	Seychelles	100%
Air Tanzania	Tanzania	100%
Air Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	100% [14]
AirBaltic	Latvia	80%
Aircalin	New Caledonia	100%
Alliance Air (India)	India	100%
Ariana Afghan Airlines	Afghanistan	100%
Arkaim	Russia
Asman Airlines	Kyrgyzstan
Aurigny	Guernsey	100%
Azerbaijan Airlines	Azerbaijan	100%
Bahamasair	Bahamas	100%
Belavia	Belarus	100%
Biman Bangladesh Airlines	Bangladesh	At least 51%
Boliviana de Aviación	Bolivia	100%
Caribbean Airlines	Trinidad and Tobago	100%
Cathay Pacific	Hong Kong	6%
Cayman Airways	Cayman Islands	100%
CEIBA Intercontinental	Equatorial Guinea	[15] [16]
China Airlines	Republic of China	31.05% China Aviation Development Foundation (CADF) 8.64% National Development Fund (NDF) [17]
Conviasa	Venezuela	100%
Croatia Airlines	Croatia	100%
Cubana de Aviación	Cuba	100%
Druk Air	Bhutan	100%
Dubai Royal Air Wing	Government of Dubai (UAE)	100%
EgyptAir	Egypt	100%
Emirates	Government of Dubai (UAE)	100%
Eritrean Airlines	Eritrea	80% Eritrean government 20% Ethiopia Airlines (Ethiopian government)
Ethiopian Airlines	Ethiopia	100%
Etihad Airways	Government of Abu Dhabi (UAE)	100%
Fiji Airways	Fiji	52%
Finnair	Finland	55.8%
Flydubai	Government of Dubai (UAE)	100%
Garuda Indonesia	Indonesia	60.54%
Gulf Air	Bahrain
Heli Air Monaco	Monaco	100% [18]
Iran Air	Iran	60%
Iraqi Airways	Iraq	100%
ITA Airways	Italy	100% [19]
KM Malta Airlines	Malta	100%
KLM	Netherlands	9.3% (through the Air France–KLM holding company). French state has a 28.6% stake [20]
Kuwait Airways	Kuwait	100%
LADE	Argentina	100%
LAM Mozambique Airlines	Mozambique	100%
Lao Airlines	Laos	100%
Libyan Airlines	Libya	100%
LOT Polish Airlines	Poland	100% [21]
Malaysia Airlines	Malaysia	100% [22]
Mandarin Airlines	Taiwan	Fully owned subsidiary of Taiwan's China Airlines
Mexicana de Aviación	Mexico
MIAT Mongolian Airlines	Mongolia
Middle East Airlines	Lebanon	100%
Myanmar National Airlines	Myanmar	100%
Myanmar Airways International	Myanmar
Nauru Airlines	Nauru
Nepal Airlines	Nepal
Oman Air	Oman
Pakistan International Airlines	Pakistan
Philippine Airlines	Philippines
Qatar Airways	Qatar
Qatar Amiri Flight	Qatar
Qatar Executive	Qatar
RAM Cargo	Morocco
Régie Malagache	Madagascar
Riyadh Air	Saudi Arabia	100% [23]
Rossiya	Russia
Royal Air Maroc	Morocco
Royal Brunei Airlines	Brunei
Royal Jordanian	Jordan
RwandAir	Rwanda
Satena	Colombia
Saudia	Saudi Arabia
Singapore Airlines	Singapore	55.53% [24]
Solomon Airlines	Solomon Islands	100% [25]
SriLankan Airlines	Sri Lanka	99.11% [26]
Sudan Airways	Sudan	79.00% [27]
Surinam Airways	Suriname	100% [28]
Syrian Air	Syria	100%
TAAG Angola Airlines	Angola	90.00% [29]
TAP Portugal	Portugal	97.75% (91.8% directly owned by the government and the remaining 8.2% owned by the TAP Group, where the government has a total share of 72.5%) [30]
TAROM	Romania	97.22% [31]
Thai Airways International	Thailand	51.00% [32]
Tunisair	Tunisia	[33] [34]
Turkmenistan Airlines	Turkmenistan
Uganda Airlines	Uganda	100% [35]
Uzbekistan Airways	Uzbekistan	100%
Vietnam Airlines	Vietnam	86.10% [36]
Yemenia	Yemen	51.00% [37]

List of former government-owned airlines

This is a list of airlines which were formerly government owned. They have since been privatized or have ceased operations.

Airline	Country	End of government ownership	Fate
Adria Airways	Slovenia	2019	Bankrupt
Aer Lingus	Ireland	2015	Ryanair & Government held shares sold to IAG
Albanian Airlines	Albania	1995
Austrian Airlines	Austria	2009
Armenian Airlines	Armenia	2003
Aero Caribbean	Cuba	2015	Merged into Cubana [38]
Aeroflot-Cargo	Russian Federation	2010	Merged with Aeroflot
Aeroméxico	Mexico	2007	Privatized
Aerotaxi	Cuba	2009	Ceased operations
Air Bissau	Guinea-Bissau	1998	Liquidated [39]
Air Burundi	Burundi	2009	Ceased operations [40]
Air Gabon	Gabon	2006	Bankrupt
Air Guinée	Guinea	1992	Privatized 1992, dissolved 2002
Air India	India	2021	Privatized
Air Ivoire	Ivory Coast	2011	Ceased operations
Air Jamaica	Jamaica	2011	Sold to Caribbean Airlines 2011, ceased operations 2015
Air Liberia	Liberia	1990	Ceased trading
Air Malawi	Malawi	2013	Voluntary liquidation
Air Mali (1960-89)	Mali	1989	Shut down [41]
Air Niger	Niger	1993	Ceased operations [42]
Air Rwanda	Rwanda	2002	Taken over by and rebranded to RwandAir
Air Sénégal International	Senegal	2009	Operations suspended [43]
Air Vanuatu	Vanuatu	2024	Ceased trading [44]
Air Zaïre	Zaire	1995	Bankrupt [45]
Alitalia	Italy	2021	Bankrupt and rebranded to ITA Airways [46]
Berkut Air	Kazakhstan	2011	Rebranded
British Airways	United Kingdom	1987	Privatised [47]
Cabo Verde Airlines	Cabo Verde	2019	Privatized [48]
Cameroon Airlines	Cameroon	2008	Ceased operations
Cyprus Airways (1947–2015)	Cyprus	2015	Bankruptcy
Czech Airlines	Czech Republic	2024	Shut down
Donavia	Russia	2016	Merged with Rossiya Airlines
Ecuato Guineana	Equatorial Guinea	~ 2007	Unknown
Eurocypria Airlines	Cyprus	2010	Bankruptcy [49]
Gambia International Airlines	Gambia	2007	Shut down
Ghana Airways	Ghana	2004	Ceased operations
Guine Bissau Airlines	Guinea Bissau	2003
Iberia (airline)	Spain	2001	Privatized
Indian Airlines	India	2011	Ceased operations
Japan Airlines	Japan	1987	Privatized [50]
Korean Air	South Korea	1969	Privatized
LAN Chile	Chile	1994	Privatized
Lina Congo	Republic of Congo	2002	Dissolved
Lufthansa	Germany	1994	Privatized [51]
Merpati Nusantara Airlines	Indonesia	2014	Ceased operations
Nordica	Estonia	2019	Privatized, then Ceased operations in 2024
Norfolk Air	/ Norfolk Island, Australia	2011	Ceased operations [52]
NorOntair	/ Ontario, Canada	1996	Ceased operations [53]
Olympic Airlines	Greece	2009	Shut down
Qantas	Australia	1992	Privatized [54]
Royal Swazi National Airways	Eswatini	1999	Ceased operations
Sierra National Airlines	Sierra Leone	2004	Ceased operations [55]
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)	Denmark Sweden Norway	2001	Since 2001, +50% stocks are publicly traded. The Norwegian government confirmed it sold its stake in 2018. [56] In 2024, the Norwegian government once again received a stake, when SAS used stocks to repay part of a 2020 loan. [57] Government stakes remain: 14.24% (Danish government) [58] 2.1% (Norwegian government) [57] 14.82% (Swedish government) [58]
South Africa Express	South Africa	2020	Liquidated [59]
South African Airways	South Africa	2022	Privatized[ citation needed ]
Kenya Airways	Kenya	1996	Government owns minority stake (48.9%) [60]
TAME	Ecuador	2020	Liquidated [61]
TANS Perú	Peru	2006	Shut down [62]
Toumaï Air Tchad	Chad	2012	Ceased operations [63]
Turkish Airlines	Turkey	2006	Privatized [64]
Uganda Airlines (1976-2001)	Uganda	2001	Liquidated [65]
Ukraine International Airlines	Ukraine	2011	Privatized
Ukrainian Cargo Airways	Ukraine	2009	Shut down [66]
Varig	Brazil	1999
Royal Tongan Airlines	Tonga	2004
Zambia Airways	Zambia	1994	Ceased operations [67]

See also

• Flag carrier
• Government-owned corporation
• List of airlines
• List of government-owned companies

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