Malaysia-Singapore Airlines Worldwide, c. 1970

Two snapshots of Malaysia Singapore Airline's worldwide network as it stood circa 1970. Its flagship route was undoubtedly the Singapore-Bombay-Bahrain-Rome-London service. MSA split with the dissolution of the Federation of Malaya; it became MAS (Malaysia Airline System, now the global mega-carrier Malaysia Airlines) and Singapore generated its now legendary Singapore Airlines.

LOT Polish, ca. 1960

At the height of the cold war, LOT IL-62 jets stretched from Baghdad to Benghazi to Brussels, with the flagship route to New York via Shannon, London and Amsterdam. The routes seem even more dense to the west than the east, with a surprising number of North African destinations: Tunis, Algiers, Benghazi, and Cairo.

VLM Network, 2005/6

Smart little Flemish Airline VLM is not hubbed in Belgium, but rather London's City Airport. The network has shifted a bit in the last few years, with Liverpool and the Isle of Man dropped, and some French Cities added.