About Airlines

IATA Code

The "IATA Code" is an international system that assigns two letters (or one letter and one digit) to airlines (e.g., AF for Air France). It is managed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA in English).

These codes appear on tickets, airport information screens, airline timetables, and sometimes in travel agency documents. A similar coding system also exists for cities and airports.

Note that alongside the IATA code, there is another similar system called ICAO.

• List by code

• List by airline

Bases and Networks

The world from France

Hundreds of airlines operate worldwide, each with its own characteristics, offering travellers a wide range of options. However, just thirty or so dominate over three-quarters of the routes offered by French travel agencies. To secure a strong presence in all markets, airlines have developed sophisticated network and alliance strategies.

Bases

• See the bases of major airlines

Reading travel brochures—whether print or online—gives the impression that dozens of airlines are ready to fly you directly from Paris or other French cities to any destination worldwide.

In reality, air travel, like many other industries, operates primarily on a hub-and-spoke model. Instead of creating costly direct routes between cities that may not fill planes efficiently, most airlines use a "hub" system—a "plaque tournante" in French. The goal is to consolidate passengers from various origins before transporting them together, ideally with quick connections, to their final destination.

It’s also worth noting that an airline’s bases often serve as its main stopover points.

Connections

While major global cities are served non-stop from Paris, 80% of flights offered by agencies require at least one connection. For example, if you fly with Portugal’s TAP, Italy’s Alitalia, or the UK’s British Airways, you’ll likely connect through Lisbon, Rome, or London.

Some airlines offer multiple transit options. Lufthansa, for instance, primarily uses Frankfurt as its hub but may route passengers through Munich. Others have set up more distant hubs, such as Bangkok, a key crossroads for many airlines serving Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Non-European airlines follow the same principle. You might change planes in Bangkok with Thai Airways, in Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific, or in various U.S. cities with American carriers. However, some may offer connections closer to home, like Malaysia Airlines, which occasionally routes passengers via London for better frequency.

Finally, some airlines without direct flights from France are still available to travellers thanks to pre-routing to neighbouring countries. For example, you might connect through Amsterdam (e.g., China Airlines or Jet Airways), London (e.g., Air New Zealand or Qantas), or Frankfurt (e.g., Air Namibia) to reach their networks.

Thanks to this system, Paris—and the rest of France—is effectively connected to thousands of cities worldwide.

Airline Alliances

Code-sharing

To stay competitive and expand their market reach, airlines increasingly form alliances, often relying heavily on what experts call "code-sharing."

In practice, this means one airline can sell flights under its own code that are actually operated by another carrier. You might book a ticket with Airline X, only to find yourself flying with Airline Y at boarding. Originally, this practice helped smaller national airlines offer a broader range of destinations, but code-sharing has since become a powerful tool in the airline industry’s competitive landscape.

Three Major Alliances

In recent years, European, American, and Asian airlines have formed numerous partnerships, effectively doubling or tripling their offerings without expanding their fleets or staff.

From Lufthansa with United, British Airways with American Airlines, to Air France-KLM with Delta—just to name a few—there are now over 400 such alliances worldwide. However, three dominate over 80% of the global market: OneWorld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance. For passengers, this means that after choosing a preferred airline for a comfortable flight, you might end up on a less efficient carrier with lower-quality aircraft—and with no compensation.

One World

Airlines: 15 member airlines (excluding subsidiaries), led by British Airways (UK) and American Airlines (USA), plus Alaska Airlines (USA), Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong), Finnair (Finland), Iberia (Spain), Japan Airlines (Japan), LATAM Airlines (Chile), Malaysia Airlines (Malaysia), Qantas (Australia), Qatar Airways (Qatar), Royal Jordanian (Jordan), SriLankan Airlines (Sri Lanka), S7 Airlines (Russia), and TAM (Brazil).

Network: Around 1,000 destinations and 2,500 aircraft, serving 360 million passengers annually.

SkyTeam

Airlines: 19 member airlines (excluding subsidiaries), led by Air France and KLM (Netherlands), plus Aeroflot (Russia), Aerolíneas Argentinas (Argentina), Aeroméxico (Mexico), Air Europa (Spain), Alitalia (Italy), China Airlines (Taiwan), China Eastern Airlines (China), CSA (Czech Republic), Delta (USA), Garuda Indonesia (Indonesia), Kenya Airways (Kenya), Korean Air (South Korea), MEA (Lebanon), Saudia (Saudi Arabia), TAROM (Romania), Vietnam Airlines (Vietnam), and Xiamen Airlines (China).

Network: Around 1,000 destinations and 4,150 aircraft, serving 530 million passengers annually.

Star Alliance

Airlines: The largest alliance, with 27 member airlines (excluding subsidiaries), led by Lufthansa (Germany) and United (USA), plus Aegean Airlines (Greece), Air Canada (Canada), Air China (China), Air India (India), Air New Zealand (New Zealand), ANA (Japan), Asiana Airlines (South Korea), Austrian Airlines (Austria), Avianca (Colombia), Brussels Airlines (Belgium), Copa Airlines (Panama), Croatia Airlines (Croatia), EgyptAir (Egypt), Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopia), EVA Air (Taiwan), LOT Polish Airlines (Poland), SAS (Scandinavia), Shenzhen Airlines (China), Singapore Airlines (Singapore), South African Airways (South Africa), Swiss International Air Lines (Switzerland), TAP Air Portugal (Portugal), Thai Airways (Thailand), Turkish Airlines (Turkey).

Network: Around 1,300 destinations and 4,330 aircraft, serving 638 million passengers annually.