The airline was established and started operations
in September 1976 as Lao Aviation. The name was changed to Lao Airlines
in early 2003. It is wholly owned by the Government of Laos.
Flying mainly to small airfields in mountainous, tropical Laos, the
airline acquired a not-too-favourable reputation for safety, several
flights being lost over the years. Lately, with better aircraft and
airfields, this reputation has been overcome. Reliability is now complying
to international standards, at least for ATR 72 aircraft.
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