From Turkish Airlines to Virgin Blue, why these 10 airlines changed their names

Fiji Airways began life in 1947, named after a coconut plantation. It was wisely rebranded as Fiji Airways in 1951, and has that name today. What's unusual in this case, however, is that it's a brand the airline has switched back to. When Fiji became independent in 1970, the new government wanted to play up the airline's regional credentials, and it became Air Pacific. That decision took 42 years to reverse. See fijiairways.com

Alia

What's the point of being a king if you can't name it after your eldest daughter? That's what King Hussein of Jordan did in 1963. The flag carrier boldly stuck to a name that had no reference to the country it was based in for 23 years. Alas, it is no longer an airline named after a seven-year-old girl – it is now the rather more boring Royal Jordanian. See rj.com

Malayan Airways

Malayan Airways began life with a route from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in 1947. The first name change, to Malaysian Airways, was enforced when the Malaysian Federation was founded in 1963. But when Singapore was kicked out of the Federation in 1965, the name needed changing again – the airline was now Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. In 1972, this was split into two separate operations, with the newly-branded Singapore Airlines focusing on international flights. It worked pretty well – Singapore Airlines is consistently regarded as offering one of the best passenger experiences in the sky. See singaporeair.com

Tasman Empire Airways Limited

TEAL, as it was better known, started out by offering services across the Tasman Sea. But it became most famous for its flying boat services to the Pacific Islands. Once a joint venture between the Australian and New Zealand governments, the Kiwis bought the Aussies out in 1961, changing the name to the much less unwieldy Air New Zealand four years later. See airnewzealand.com.au

All American Aviation

Founded to do mail runs from Pittsburgh in 1937, All American Aviation grew to become one of the world's biggest airlines. It became Allegheny Airlines in 1953, then USair in 1979 and US Airways in 1997. But the expansion became unsustainable in the 2000s, with US Airways regularly flirting with bankruptcy. It was eventually swallowed by American Airlines, with all US Airways branding slowly erased. See aa.com

Siberia Airlines

Perhaps realising that the prospect of Siberia isn't all that appealing to passengers, Siberia Airlines has rebranded as S7 Airlines. It's a rebranding that was going pretty well before the pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine. The rebrand, reflecting Moscow becoming the major hub rather Novosibirsk, came in 2005. S7 then joined the One World Alliance in 2010. Since sanctions have been slathered on Russia, however, S7 has been forced to drop all international flights. See s7.ru

Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services

Yeah, that was quite a mouthful, wasn't it? And it's no wonder that Australia's biggest airline soon became known by its acronym. This was formalised with international flights in 1935, when the newly minted Qantas Empire Airways took off from Brisbane to Singapore. The empire connotations were ditched in 1967, as the airline became Qantas Airways Ltd – and that's still the official full name, even though hardly anyone uses it. See qantas.com.au

Virgin Blue

In retrospect, giving an airline a joke name probably isn't a brilliant idea. When Virgin Blue launched in 2000, the name was an ironic reference to the plane's red livery. The more corporate rebrand as Virgin Australia came in 2011, after the frankly confusing launches of sister airlines Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue and V Australia created a marketing mess. See virginaustralia.com