[4] The carrier was formed by the government of Tunisia as Société Tunisienne de l'Air in late 1948.

The initial investment was FRF 60 million, with shareholding split between the government (35%), Air France (35%) and another interests (30%).

[5] Air France transferred some of its DC-3s and routes (which included Tunis–Bone–Algiers, Tunis–Ajaccio–Nice, Tunis–Bastia–Nice, Tunis–Rome and a cargo flight between Tunis and Marseilles)[6] to the new airline for it to start operations;[5] these commenced on 1 April 1949.

[10] In 1957 the Tunisian government became the largest shareholder (51%) and the stake held by Air France was reduced to 15%.

A new service to Frankfurt was inaugurated in October but it was terminated in March the following year due to poor economical performance.

At this time, they had four Caravelles, two Cessna 402s, a DC-3 and a Nord 262, which were used on domestic services and international routes to Algeria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands,[nb 1] Italy, Libya, Morocco and Switzerland.

[19][20][21][22] The gradual incorporation of the Boeing 727s permitted Tunisair to replace the Caravelles and to retire the remaining DC-3s.

[12] For the first time in its history, in 1995 the carrier started trading its shares at the Tunis stock exchange when 20% of the stake was floated.

At this time the fleet comprised one Airbus A300B4-200, two Airbus A319-100s, ten Airbus A320-200s, four Boeing 727-200 Advanced, three Boeing 737-200 Advanced, four Boeing 737-500s and three Boeing 737-600s that served the following destinations: Abu Dhabi, Algiers, Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Berlin, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Bratislava, Brussels, Budapest, Cairo, Casablanca, Copenhagen, Dakar, Damascus, Djerba, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gafsa, Geneva, Graz, Hamburg, Istanbul, Jeddah, Lille, Linz, Lisbon, London, Luxembourg, Lyon, Madrid, Malta, Marseille, Milan, Monastir, Munich, Nice, Nouakchott, Palermo, Paris, Prague, Rome, Salzburg, Sfax, Stockholm, Strasbourg, Tabarka, Toulouse, Tozeur, Tunis, Vienna, Warsaw and Zürich.

[28] As of October 2024[update], Tunisair is owned 64,86% by the Tunisian state, 9.56% by three state-owned national funds (CNSS, CNRPS, CNAM) , and 5,58% by Air France.

The position of CEO was replaced by a head of general management, and a chairman of the board of directors.

Figures for the Airline (as opposed to the Group) seem to be as shown below (as at year ending 31 December): Tunisair's head office is located on Route X near Tunis–Carthage International Airport in Tunis.

[54] Another order followed the same year when the carrier acquired four Boeing 737-600s that were initially slated for delivery starting in May 1999.