Lao Airlines State Enterprise is the national airline of Laos, headquartered in Vientiane. It operates domestic as well as international services to countries such as Cambodia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and Korea. Its main operating base is Wattay International Airport in Vientiane. It is subordinate to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

In September 1976 the Civil Aviation Company was formed from the merger of existing airlines Royal Air Lao and Lao Air Lines. The company became Lao Aviation in 1979. The national carrier initially started with a mixed fleet of Western aircraft, including the Douglas DC-3 and DC-4, operating on international and domestic routes, as well as a fleet of helicopters for more remote regions. Reflecting the country's closer links with its Eastern neighbours, a re-equipment exercise was undertaken in the 1980s, with the fleet then primarily composed of aircraft from China and the Soviet Union. For international services to Bangkok, Hanoi and Phnom Penh these included the Antonov An-24.

A joint venture with China Yunnan Airlines and the Lao government was formed, which re-nationalized Lao Aviation in 2000. In 1994, the airline upgraded its fleet with ATR-42 turboprop aircraft and by 1995 had acquired an ATR-72 aircraft, adding Xian Y-7 and Harbin Y-12 aircraft to its fleet.

In 2003, the airline was re-branded to become Lao Airlines and on 8 November 2011 took delivery of the first of two Airbus A320 aircraft ordered from Airbus, the second A320 arriving in December 2011. The A320s are the first jet aircraft to be purchased by Lao Airlines and feature a two-class layout seating 126 passengers in the main cabin and 16 in Business Class and are powered by CFM International CFM56 engines.

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