Australia's newest and oldest airlines -

We all know Qantas is Australia's largest airline and flag carrier, but what about all the other Aussie airlines?

Take a look at all the air passenger carriers and companies Australia operates, and find out which is the oldest airline down under. Take a look!

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Airnorth -

Airnorth is a Darwin-based regional airline that operates in over 20 destinations across Northern Territory, Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland, and East Timor.

The airline was founded in 1978 and had charter flights until 1981, when scheduled services were introduced. Airnorth reportedly flies 300,000 passengers annually.

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Skytraders -

Skytraders was founded in 1979, is based in Woollahra, New South Wales, and provides special services to the Aussie Federal Government.

Did you know? Shortly after being founded, Skytraders began moving 40 tonnes of chilled lamb and other produce to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Regional Express Airlines (REX) -

REX is Australia's second-largest regional airline, behind Qantas, flying between New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania. 

Founded in 2002, REX is the result of two merging airlines (Hazelton Airlines and Kendell Airlines).

REX has 54 Swedish built Saab 340 aircraft that it uses to operate.

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Tigerair Australia -

This low-cost airline was founded in 2007 as Tiger Airways Australia and has Melbourne as its headquarters.

The airline is a subsidiary of Virgin Australia Holdings, acquired in 2014.

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Jetstar Airways -

Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, more commonly known as Jetstar Airways or simply Jetstar, is a Melbourne-based low-cost airline company.

As you may know, Jetstar is a Qantas subsidiary, that was founded to compete with Virgin Blue, another low-cost airline.

Jetstar was founded in 2003 and according to The Australian, the airline reportedly carries 8.5% of passengers flying in and out of Australia.

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Qantas -

Australia's flag carrier and largest airline was established in 1920 by Paul McGinness, Fergus McMaster, and Hudson Fysh. The airline's main hubs are in Sydney Airport, Melbourne Airport, and Brisbane Airport. 

In 1992, Qantas merged with national Australian Airlines and was officially a privatised company by 1997.

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Qantas Freight -

Qantas' subsidiary company Qantas Freight operates air cargo for the Qantas Group. The airline is also owner of Express Freighters Australia, Jets Transport Express, and Qantas Courier airlines.

Qantas Freight was founded in 2001 and since 2013, the airline ships cargo across 50 international and 80 domestic destinations.

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Qantas Link -

Founded in 2002, QantasLink was to become major competition for already-existing regional airlines Regional Express Airlines and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines.

Before Jetstar Airways was born, QantasLink was operating a larger variety of routes. Prior to 2015, QantasLink was known as Network Aviation.

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Network Aviation - Qantas' various subsidiaries (Sunstate Airlines, Eastern Australia Airlines, Southern Australia Airlines, Cobham Aviation) operated under their own names until 2002. Then QantasLink was born.

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Skytrans Airlines -

This Cairns-based air charter and airline, which was founded in 1990, flies from Cairns, Brisbane, and Horn Island.

In 2005, Skytrans took on the Cairns to Townsville route which made the airline a competitor to QantasLink. 

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Virgin Australia -

Australia's second-biggest airline has hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland and is based in Bowen Hills in Brisbane.

Did you know? Virgin Australia was launched in 2000 under the name Virgin Blue, with just two Boeing 737-400 aircraft. 

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Virgin Australia Regional Airlines -

This regional airline is based in Perth and has ten destinations across Western Australia, Northern Territory, and South Australia.

The airline was first established as Carnarvon Air Taxis in 1963, and only became known as Virgin Australia Regional Airlines in 2013 when Virgin Australia Holdings bought the company.

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Alliance Airlines -

This airline company is Brisbane-based, but also operational across Australia (Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Townsville, Cairns, and Auckland, NZ).

Alliance Airlines operates and owns Fokker aircraft and provides charter and fly-in fly-out (FIFO) flights for group travels in the resources industry, sporting teams, domestic tourism, government travel delegates, among many more. It was founded in 2002.

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Airlines of Tasmania -

This Hobart-based airline operates a single flight between the Tasmanian city of Launceston and Cape Barren Island (in the north of the island state). 

Airlines of Tasmania sometimes goes by the name Par-Avion. When founded in 1978, the airline was intended to continue its original and various flights across Tasmania. Marginal traffic had the airline stop flying into mainland Australia, reportedly.

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Tasman Cargo Airlines -

Back in 1994, when the airline was founded, Tasman Cargo Airlines went by the name of Premier Airlines. It wasn't until 2008 that it changed its name.

The airline is based in Sydney and has its headquarters in the city's suburb of Mascot. Tasman Cargo's sole aircraft, Boeing 757, is based in New Zealand's Auckland Airport. Tasman Cargo Airlines flies on behalf of transport company DHL. 

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Hinterland Aviation -

Queensland-based airline Hinterland Aviation flies from Cairns Airport and Townsville Airport, and has been operating in charter tourism since 1992.

Hinterland Aviation was founded in 1984 and used to service the mining industry before delving into charter flights.

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Fly Corporate -

Corporate Air launched Fly Corporate, a regional Brisbane-based fly-in fly-out (FIFO) airline in 2016. The airline provides flights between Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales.

Corporate Air was originally established in 1972 as a flying school and small air charter company, according to their website.

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SEAIR Pacific -

This Gold Coast-based charter air service has been flying since 1985, when the airlines was founded.

SEAIR Pacific only flies within Queensland and houses small planes that can fly a maximum 13 passengers at once.

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