Editing Airline (section)

===Asia===
[[File:Tata Sons' Airline Timetable Image, Summer 1935 (interior).jpg|thumb|1935 Timetable of [[Tata Airlines]], founded in 1932]]

Although [[Philippine Airlines]] (PAL) was officially founded on February 26, 1941, its license to operate as an airliner was derived from merged Philippine Aerial Taxi Company (PATCO) established by mining magnate [[Emmanuel N. Bachrach]] on 3 December 1930, making it Asia's oldest scheduled carrier still in operation.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://hawaii.gov/hawaiiaviation/hawaii-commercial-aviation/philippine-air-lines |title=Above the Pacific |first=William Joseph |last=Horvat |date=1966 |isbn=978-0-8168-0000-1 |publisher=Hawaii.gov |access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref> Commercial air service commenced three weeks later from [[Manila]] to [[Baguio]], making it Asia's first airline route. Bachrach's death in 1937 paved the way for its eventual merger with Philippine Airlines in March 1941 and made it Asia's oldest airline. It is also the oldest airline in Asia still operating under its current name.<ref name="PAL">Jane, ''[http://www.janes.com Jane's airlines & airliners By Jeremy Flack]'', First Edition, 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-00-715174-5}}</ref> Bachrach's majority share in PATCO was bought by beer magnate Andres R. Soriano in 1939 upon the advice of General [[Douglas MacArthur]] and later merged with newly formed Philippine Airlines with PAL as the surviving entity. Soriano has controlling interest in both airlines before the merger. PAL restarted service on 15 March 1941, with a single [[Beech Model 18]] NPC-54 aircraft, which started its daily services between [[Manila]] (from [[Nielson Field]]) and [[Baguio]], later to expand with larger aircraft such as the DC-3 and Vickers Viscount.
[[File:Nakajima AT-2.jpg|thumb|[[Nakajima Ki-34|Nakajima AT-2]] of [[Japan Air Transport]], 1937]]
In Japan, [[Japan Air Transport]] was established in 1928 as the national flag carrier. Upon the completion of [[Haneda Airport]] in 1931, it became the airline's hub. The airline initially operated domestic routes such as [[Tokyo]]–[[Osaka]] and Osaka–[[Fukuoka]]. In September 1929, it opened its first overseas route, which connected Fukuoka to [[Dalian]] in the [[Kwantung Leased Territory]] via [[Keijō|Seoul]] and [[Pyongyang]] in [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese Korea]]. After Japan established the puppet state of [[Manchukuo]], the airline opened routes to major cities within this territory. The company was reorganised as [[Imperial Japanese Airways|Japan Airways]] in 1938. During the Second World War, it operated routes to various Japanese-occupied territories and [[Thailand]]. The company was dissolved immediately after the war, as civil aviation was prohibited by the [[Occupation of Japan|Allied Occupation Forces]]. Civil aviation in Japan did not resume until the founding of [[Japan Airlines]] in 1951.<ref>{{Cite web |title=early Japanese civil aviation |url=http://www.century-of-flight.freeola.com/new%20site/commercial/Japanese%20civil%20aviation.htm |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=www.century-of-flight.freeola.com}}</ref>

[[Cathay Pacific]] was one of the first airlines to be launched among the other Asian countries in 1946.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Gavin |title=Beyond Lion Rock: The Story of Cathay Pacific Airways |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=1988 |isbn=9780571287260}}</ref> The license to operate as an airliner was granted by the federal government body after reviewing the necessity at the national assembly. The [[Hanjin]] occupies the largest ownership of Korean Air as well as few low-budget airlines as of now. Korean Air is one of the four founders of [[SkyTeam]], which was established in 2000. [[Asiana Airlines]], launched in 1988,  joined [[Star Alliance]] in 2003. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines comprise one of the largest combined airline miles and number of passenger served at the regional market of Asian airline industry

[[India]] was also one of the first countries to embrace civil aviation.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Pran Nath Seth|author2=Pran Nath Seth, Sushma Seth Bhat|title=An Introduction To Travel And Tourism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcGn-Fmc43sC&pg=PA111|year=2003|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|isbn=978-81-207-2482-2|page=111}}</ref> One of the first Asian airline companies was [[Air India]], which was founded as [[Tata Airlines]] in 1932, a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now [[Tata Group]]). The airline was founded by India's leading industrialist, [[JRD Tata]]. On 15 October 1932, J. R. D. Tata himself flew a single engined [[De Havilland Puss Moth]] carrying air mail (postal mail of [[Imperial Airways]]) from [[Karachi]] to [[Mumbai|Bombay]] via [[Ahmedabad]]. The aircraft continued to [[Madras]] via Bellary piloted by [[Royal Air Force]] pilot [[Nevill Vintcent]]. Tata Airlines was also one of the world's first major airlines which began its operations without any support from the Government.<ref>{{cite book|author=S Bhatt|title=International Environmental Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0g7tCYYu-gC&pg=PA175|year=2007|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-313-0125-8|page=175}}</ref>

With the outbreak of World War II, the airline presence in Asia came to a relative halt, with many new flag carriers donating their aircraft for military aid and other uses. Following the end of the war in 1945, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on 29 July 1946, under the name Air India. After the [[independence of India]], 49% of the airline was acquired by the [[Government of India]]. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name [[Air India International]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pandey |first=B.K. |date=April–May 2013 |title=Encouraging Changes |url=https://www.spsairbuz.com/ebook/32022013.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.spsairbuz.com/ebook/32022013.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |journal=SP's AirBuz |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=32}}</ref>

On 31 July 1946, a chartered Philippine Airlines (PAL) [[DC-4]] ferried 40 American servicemen to [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], [[California]], from Nielson Airport in [[Makati]] with stops in [[Guam]], [[Wake Island]], [[Johnston Atoll]] and [[Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]], making PAL the first Asian airline to cross the [[Pacific Ocean]]. A regular service between [[Manila]] and [[San Francisco]] was started in December. It was during this year that the airline was designated as the flag carrier of Philippines.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-23 |title=History and Milestone |url=https://www.philippineairlines.com/zh-TW/TC/home/AboutUs/HistoryAndMilestone |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923024837/https://www.philippineairlines.com/zh-TW/TC/home/AboutUs/HistoryAndMilestone |archive-date=2020-09-23 |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=}}</ref>

During the era of [[decolonization]], newly born Asian countries started to embrace air transport. Among the first Asian carriers during the era were [[Cathay Pacific]] of [[Hong Kong]] (founded in September 1946), [[Orient Airways]] (later [[Pakistan International Airlines]]; founded in October 1946), [[Air Ceylon]] (later [[SriLankan Airlines]]; founded in 1947), [[Malayan Airways Limited]] in 1947 (later [[Singapore Airlines|Singapore]] and [[Malaysia Airlines]]), [[El Al]] in [[Israel]] in 1948, [[Garuda Indonesia]] in 1949, [[Thai Airways]] in 1960, and [[Korean National Airlines]] in 1947.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}