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Aviation glossary

Regional airline

Also: regional carrier, commuter airline, feeder airline

Airlines and business

Airline flying short, thinner routes with regional aircraft, often linking smaller cities to the hubs of the major carriers.

What it is

Regional airlines fly turboprops and regional jets, typically with fewer than a hundred seats, such as the ATR 72, the Bombardier CRJ or the Embraer E175, on routes where a larger aircraft would fly mostly empty. They keep small and mid-sized cities connected to national and international networks.

In the United States the dominant arrangement is the capacity purchase agreement: the regional operates flights in the livery, flight code and sales channels of a major airline, which pays it per flight. SkyWest Airlines, for example, flies for several large US carriers under brands such as United Express and Delta Connection.

Elsewhere, regional airlines are often subsidiaries of a larger group or independent companies selling under their own name.

On Vuelopedia

SkyWest Airlines ATR 42 / 72 Bombardier CRJ

Related terms

Regional aircraftSmaller passenger aircraft, typically with about 30 to 100 seats, designed for short routes and airports with modest traffic. Hub-and-spokeWay of organising an airline network in which most flights start or end at a central airport, where passengers change to reach their destination. TurbopropGas turbine engine that drives a propeller through a reduction gearbox, with the propeller rather than the exhaust producing almost all the thrust. CodeshareAgreement under which an airline sells seats, under its own code and flight number, on a flight operated by another carrier. AirlineCompany that carries passengers, cargo or mail by air for payment, holding an air operator certificate issued by its national aviation authority.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Regional airline. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-airline

MLA

“Regional airline.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-airline. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Regional airline.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-airline.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Regional airline. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-airline (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_regional_airline,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Regional airline}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-airline},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-airline}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-airline |title=Regional airline |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

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