Australia · Commercial / Private · Formed 16 November 1920
The Flying Kangaroo - founded in outback Queensland in 1920 and now the world's oldest continuously operating airline still flying under its original name.
Qantas began on 16 November 1920 as the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, carrying mail and passengers between remote outback towns in war-surplus biplanes. That acronym became one of aviation's most famous names, and the airline one of its great long-haul pioneers: the Kangaroo Route to London, flying boats across the Empire, and in the jet age a fleet built around the Boeing 747, which served Qantas for half a century.
As Australia's flag carrier, Qantas has specialised in some of the longest routes on Earth - it operated the A380 on trunk routes to Los Angeles and London from 2008, and its Project Sunrise plans aim at non-stop Sydney-to-London flights. The airline is equally known for its safety reputation and for the red-and-white kangaroo tail that has marked Australian aviation on six continents.
Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
