Summary Smaller airlines like Atlantic Airways and Azores Airlines fill unique transatlantic flight niches. Air Algerie's state-owned status allows it to offer transatlantic routes somewhat motivated by non-financial factors. Air Serbia, fully government-owned, offers transatlantic flights to two US destinations.
Transatlantic flights are no laughing matter, as they are incredibly long, complex journeys that require numerous redundancy systems to be in place, as well as multiple different approvals from aerospace regulators. As a result, the investment costs required to commence transatlantic service can be significant, barring most smaller airlines from ever starting such flights. Get all the latest aviation news on Simple Flying! Nonetheless, transatlantic air travel is a crucial link that ties together Europe and North America, two of the globe's most economically, culturally, and politically interconnected regions.
As flights from major cities to other major cities are common, established legacy carriers as well as some long-haul low-cost airlines will have well-known transatlantic networks. However, some smaller airlines will still operate transatlantic flights, whether due to government financial sponsorship or the presence of a unique market that may make such flights appealing. These services will often serve out-of-the-way destinations, or operate connections that the legacy carriers have chosen to ignore.
Here are five airlines that you may not have known to fly tra.