Did you know that some of the world’s largest and most well-known airlines have no domestic market at all? This, of course, is a result of political geography and the borders a country is defined by. This has become much more important and relevant with the current health crisis as international travel restrictions cripple airlines without any domestic networks. While there are quite a few countries with no domestic flights, let’s take a look at some of the higher-profile cases, separated by region.
Dutch carrier KLM is the only full-service airline in the Netherlands. While there are also low-cost carriers and charter operators, none of these fly regularly scheduled services within the country.  Photo: Vincenzo Pace | JFKJets.comStay informed: Sign up for our daily aviation news digest.
Europe
The Netherlands. KLM (usually) has a robust international network, flying to destinations in South America, southern Africa, and Southeast Asia. However, the airline and its home country lack a domestic flight network. This is largely due to the country’s size, but also its fantastic train network run by NS. Coach bus services also do a good job of connecting major cities.
Belgium. Similarly, Belgium’s small size and well functioning rail network ensure the country’s main towns and cities are connected with one another. The country’s main carrier, Brussels Airlines, is a smaller member of the Lufthansa Group and flies regional European service, but also travels as far as the United States, Israel, and a number of African countries.
While Brussels Airlines flies as close as France and Germany, it has no domestic service to speak of. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | JFKJets.comOther European countries without domestic services include the obviously tiny states of Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, and Andorra.
There are some surprises, however. Relatively small countries like Latvia, Estonia, Switzerland, and Ireland do offer some domestic flights. In Switzerland, this is due to its mountainous terrain (SWISS flies between Geneva and Zurich), while Ireland has some remote islands.
The Middle East
This region has quite a few countries that lack a domestic flight network. At the same time, these nations have certainly made a name for themselves, crafting world-class airlines with diverse and far-reaching networks.
Kuwait: While Kuwait isn’t quite a “city-state,” most of its activity is centered around the Kuwait City area and its surrounding governorates, which act more like suburbs. The rest of the country is really only accessible by private vehicle. While Kuwait Airways might fly as far as Manila in the Philippines and New York City, it has zero domestic activity from its hub at Kuwait International Airport.
Kuwait Airways’ main long-range aircraft at the moment is the Boeing 777. It’s smallest jets are from the Airbus A320 family. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | JFKJets.comAlthough Qatar Airways may have one of the world’s largest airline networks, the country of Qatar is too small to have any domestic flights. The same goes for neighboring Bahrain, which is one-tenth the size of Qatar.
Qatar Airways has one of the most diverse route maps of any airlines flying. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | JFKJets.comThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) is another good example of a country having world-class airlines without any domestic flights. The UAE is divided up into emirates (kind of like states in the US), with the largest emirates having their own airlines. Emirates (the airline) flies out of Dubai while Abu Dhabi is served by Etihad. Air Arabia serves the emirates of Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah, while Spicejet is looking to expand its operations in the latter as well.
Emirates is a world-renowned airline without any domestic flights of its own. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | JFKJets.comEast Asia
Asia has two great examples of states with world-class airlines with no domestic flights.
Of course, it gets a little complicated and perhaps even touchy, calling Hong Kong a state. Technically, Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) and certainly has done a good job of riding the fine line between an independent country and being part of a larger nation (China).
With most in the SAR speaking Cantonese instead of Mandarin, using the Hong Kong dollar, as well as a separate passport, it is somewhat separate from China for the time being. Therefore, flights to China are treated as international, meaning that Hong Kong has no truly domestic flights.
Hong Kong’s main airline is Cathay Pacific. For the time being, flights to China are considered international and thus there is no domestic network within Hong Kong. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | JFKJets.comSingapore is our final example. Often regarded as one of the best airlines in the world, Singapore Airlines also runs one of the longest flights in the world – taking passengers from Singapore to New York on an ultra-long-range version of the A350-900.
The country itself is essentially a city-state on a small island. Singapore Changi is the main airport and home to Singapore Airlines. The country does have another facility known as Seletar Airport- but as these two are about 20km apart, there aren’t any domestic services. Seletar is, however, the site of some exciting passenger-to-freighter conversion work.
As there are many small nations out there, this list could indeed go on further. Usually quite a mundane topic, this has been made much more interesting with the events of 2020, which continue to unfold.
Singapore Airlines’ activity was almost completely shut down for part of 2020 as the government banned international arrivals, including transfer passengers. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | JFKJets.comIndeed, as many countries (and special administrative regions) maintain stringent travel restrictions, their homegrown airlines are extremely handicapped in the passenger operations they are able to maintain during this crisis. The worst part of 2020 travel restrictions, especially for carriers like Emirates and Singapore Airlines, has been the suspension of transfer/transit traffic – something that these airlines greatly rely on.
Conversely, larger countries and their carriers have had the good fortune of being able to main domestic operations in the midst of heavy international travel restrictions. China, the United States, and Russia are some prime examples.
Has your home airline suffered due to a lack of domestic flights? Let us know in the comments.

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