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 became much more important and relevant during the peak of the pandemic when these airlines were struggling to find passengers and limited to flying a handful of routes. 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.

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 (excluding its overseas territories, which are also outside of the Schengen area). 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.

Other 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 a number of domestic flights to avoid multi-hour trips by land.

It is worth noting that governments are looking to clamp down on domestic flying in larger countries as well, especially in Europe. France became the first to ban domestic flights barring from a small number of hubs in a bid to promote more sustainable options, such as the train or buses.

Want answers to more key questions in aviation? Check out the rest of our guides here.

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.

A Kuwait Airways Airbus A330neos parked at their gates.
Photo: Airbus

Qatar: Although Qatar Airways may have one of the world's largest airline networks and grew its prominence during the FIFA World Cup last year, its home country's size means it has no domestic routes.

Qatar Airways
Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying

United Arab Emirates: The 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 flies out of Dubai while Abu Dhabi is served by Etihad. Meanwhile, Air Arabia serves the emirates of Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah. All of this while none fly to each other's home base!

Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft taking off
Photo: Emirates

East Asia

Asia has two great examples of states with world-class airlines with no domestic flights.

Hong Kong: While Hong Kong's legal and political status is one of a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, the border between the two means the city is treated as having its own aviation market. However, flag carrier Cathay Pacific offers no domestic flights, flying exclusively internationally out of its home at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG).

Cathay Pacific A350-900 on stand
Photo: EQ Roy I Shutterstock

Singapore: 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 (SIN) 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.

A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 coming in for landing.
Photo: The Global Guy/Shutterstock

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 saw domestic-heavy airlines bounce back quickly while, such as those in Asia, with none still struggling to reach full capacity three years later.

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However, with travel restrictions now a thing of the past and the world fully open once more, airlines are fast seeing a return to their previous growth, relying on international travel and transfer traffic as usual again.

Has your home airline suffered due to a lack of domestic flights? Let us know in the comments.