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Largest airlines in the world

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The largest airlines in the world can be defined in several ways. As of 2023, Delta Air Lines was the largest by revenue, assets, market capitalization, fleet size and brand value; American Airlines Group by passengers carried and employees; FedEx Express by freight tonne-kilometers; Southwest Airlines by routes; and Turkish Airlines by countries served.

According to Forbes in 2023, Delta Air Lines had the highest revenue among public airlines, followed by American Airlines Group and United Airlines Holdings. Emirates and Qatar Airways, being state-owned and privately held respectively, are not included in this list. Brand Finance, in 2024, ranks Delta Air Lines as the most valuable airline brand, followed by American Airlines and United Airlines. Emirates and Qatar Airways also feature prominently in terms of brand value.

American Airlines Group carried the most passengers in 2022, followed by Delta Air Lines and Ryanair. United Airlines, Lufthansa, and Southwest Airlines also rank highly in passenger numbers, highlighting the dominance of US and European carriers in flight volume.

By financial performance

[edit]
Delta Air Lines ranks first by revenue, total assets, market capitalization and brand value.
American Airlines Group ranks first by number of employees and passengers carried.

Revenue

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Forbes' world's biggest public airline companies by revenue (as of May 2024)[1]
Rank Airline Country Revenue Profit Assets Market
cap. 		Employees
(US$ billions)
1 Steady Delta Air Lines  United States 59 5 75 34 100,000
2 Rise United Airlines Holdings  United States 54.8 2.7 71.9 18.1 103,300
3 Fall American Airlines Group  United States 53.2 0.5 64.4 9.7 132,100
4 Steady Lufthansa Group  Germany 38.8 1.5 51.1 8.7 96,677
5 Steady Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 32.9 0.69 37.5 3 75,000
6 Rise International Airlines Group  UK/ Spain 31.8 2.9 41.6 11.1 71,794
7 Fall Southwest Airlines  United States 26.7 0.43 36 16.7 74,806
8 Rise China Southern Airlines  China 22.5 –0.59 43.7 7.3 99,468
9 Fall Turkish Airlines  Turkey 21.2 6.8 35.6 13.8 55,884
10 Steady Air Canada  Canada 16.4 1.6 22 4.8 35,675
11 China Eastern Airlines  China 16 –1.2 40.1 5.5 81,781

Note that Emirates is a state-owned company, and is thus not included in this list of public companies. Its revenue was estimated around US$37.4 billion in 2024, which would have had placed the company into 5th place. Previous estimations of over US$29.2 billion and 6th place in 2023, over US$18 billion and 5th place in 2021. Qatar Airways Group is similarly privately held with its 2024 revenue of around 22.2 billion USD placing it into 10th place (with Emirates included) above Turkish Airlines. Previously nearly 21 billion USD and 9th place in 2023.

Brand value

[edit]
Largest airlines by brand value (US$ billions) according to Brand Finance (2024)[2]
Rank Airline Country $bn Year-to-year
change
1 Steady Delta Air Lines  United States 10.771 +20.7%
2 Steady American Airlines  United States 10.242 +20.7%
3 Steady United Airlines  United States 8.676 +11.5%
4 Steady Emirates  United Arab Emirates 6.610 +29.5%
5 Steady Southwest Airlines  United States 5.394 +14.7%
6 Rise British Airways  United Kingdom 3.175 +45.2%
7 Rise Qatar Airways  Qatar 3.138 +27.0%
8 Rise Air Canada  Canada 2.805 +8.6%
9 Fall China Southern Airlines  China 2.767 −14.3%
10 Rise Ryanair  Ireland 2.541 +7.1%

By flight volume

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Passengers carried

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Millions of passengers carried
Rank Airline Group Country 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
1 American Airlines Group  United States 199 95.3 215 203 199 198 146 87.8 86.8 86.3
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 175 80.0 204 192 186 183 138 129 120 116
3 Ryanair  Ireland 168 52.4 148 142 130 119 101 86.3 81.3 79.6
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 157 67.8 162 163 157 151 144 129 115 112
5 United Airlines Holdings  United States 144 57.8 162 158 148 143 95.3 90.4 90.1 92.6
6 Lufthansa Group  Germany 101 36.4 145 142 130 117 115 112 110 108
7 IAG  UK/ Spain 94.7 31.3
#12		 118 112 104 100 94.9 77.3 67.2 54.6
8 Air France–KLM  France/
 Netherlands 		83.3 28.9
#14		 85.6
#12
9 IndiGo  India 75.3 35.0
#11		 61.9
#16
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 71.8 28.0
#17=		 75.2
#14
China Southern Air Holding  China 62.6
#12		 96.9 151 139 126 84.9 109 100 91.5 86.2
China Eastern Air Holding  China 42.5
#17		 74.5 130 121 110 80.9 75.1 66.1 62.6 79.6
Air China Group  China 38.6
#24		 68.7 115 109 101 96.5 89.8 83.0 77.7 72.4
Hainan Airlines Group  China 21.0
#39		 37 79.9
#13
Sources [3][4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Scheduled passenger-kilometers flown (billions)

[edit]
American Airlines and United Express aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport
Airline holding groups
Rank Airline Group Country 2022 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016 2015 2013
1 American Airlines Group  United States 347 259 147 388 364 ~359 358 ~206
2 United Airlines Holdings  United States 332 207 118 385 347 ~328 335 ~287
3 Delta Air Lines Group  United States 314 216 118 382 350 ~342 337 ~278
4 Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 237 116 81.2 275 248 ~238 235 ~228
5 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 225 93.7
#11		 78.7 298 292 ~270 255 ~209
6 International Airlines Group  UK/ Spain 215 78.6
#15		 72.2 285 252 ~243 221 ~186
7 Lufthansa Group  Germany 207 89.3
#13		 69.4 296 261 ~226 220 ~153
8 Southwest Airlines  United States 199 166 87.2 211
#11		 207 ~200 189 ~167
9 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 162 153
#15
10 Qatar Airways  Qatar 154 172
#13
Ryanair  Ireland 116
#11		 ~121 185
(#12)		 130
#12		 ~103
#15
China Southern Air Holding  China 102
#13		 152 153 284 230 ~206 189 ~148
Aeroflot Group  Russia 98.4
#14		 100 68.0
#11		 156
#14		 97.6
#20
China Eastern Air Holding  China 61.2
#23		 108 107 220 183 ~167
#11		 146
#11		 ~120
#11
Air China Group  China 60.3
#24		 104 109 233 201 ~188 171 ~142
Sources [3] [14][15] [5] [16] [8] [17] [18] [19]
Individual airlines
Rank Airline Country 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
1 American Airlines  United States 308 237 123 342 330 323 320 320 208 206
2 United Airlines  United States 305 178 100 342 329 310 299 294 287 286
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 292 195 106 350 330 316 308 302 290 277
4 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 225 93.7 78.7 299 302 288 270 251 230 209
5 Ryanair  Ireland ~207 120 64.9 185 170 157 142 125
6 Southwest Airlines  United States 199 166 87.2 211 214 207 200 189 162 145
7 Qatar Airways  Qatar ~168 91.5 57.1 172 152
#11		 137
#11
8 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 162 86.7 52.2
#11		 150
#14		 145
#13		 125
#14
9 Air France  France 123 60.1
#13		 48.8
#12		 150
#13		 143
#14		 136
#12		 139 134 136
10 Lufthansa  Germany 119 50.0
#17		 37.5
#16		 165
#11		 158 152 149 145 143 144
British Airways  United Kingdom 104
#12		 30.6
#30		 38.8
#14		 155
#12		 151
#12		 144 140 137 130
China Southern Airlines  China 102
#13		 109 110 213 200 177 205 189 166 147
Qantas  Australia 63.8
#22		 10.1
#77		 86.1
#24		 85.6
#23		 120
#15		 110
China Eastern Airlines  China 61.2
#24		 88.6 88.7 186 166 150 138
Air China  China 60.3
#25		 67.7
#11		 71.4 169 161 146 135
#13		 112
Sources [4] [14] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]

Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions)

[edit]
For broader coverage of this topic, see Cargo airline.
FedEx Express is the largest by freight tonne-kilometers.
Rank Airline Country 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
1 FedEx Express  United States 17,923 19,547 20,660 19,656 17,503 17,499 16,851 15,712 15,799 16,020
2 Qatar Airways Cargo  Qatar 14,406 14,267 16,102 13,740 13,024 12,695 10,999 9,221 7,660 5,997
3 UPS Airlines  United States 14,239 15,889 15,529 14,371 12,842 12,459 11,940 11,264 10,807 10,936
4 Emirates SkyCargo  United Arab Emirates 10,636 10,153 11,842 9,569 12,052 12,713 12,715 12,270 12,157 11,240
5 Atlas Air  United States 8,915 8,675 8,441 5,458 #12 4,522 #16 4,553 #16
6 Korean Air Cargo  South Korea 8,411 9,518 10,429 8,104 7,412 7,839 8,015 7,666 7,761 8,079
7 Turkish Cargo  Turkey 8,325 8,318 9,223 6,977 7,029 5,890 #12 4,728 #15 3,640 #20
8 Cathay Pacific Cargo  Hong Kong 8,099 5,774 #13 8,215 8,137 10,930 11,284 10,772 9,947 9,935 9,464
9 China Southern Airlines Cargo  China 7,610 6,915 8,078 6,591 6,825 6,597 6,174 #11 5,939 #11 5,355 #11 4,736 #12
10 Cargolux  Luxembourg 6,807 7,971 8,587 7,345 7,180 7,322 7,322 6,878 6,309 5,753
Air China Cargo  China 5,633 #12 6,077 #12 7,016 #12 6,121 #11 6,767 #11 7,051 6,701 6,089 5,718 4,910 #11
Lufthansa Cargo  Germany 5,374 #13 5,153 #16 5,324 #17 4,828 #15 7,226 7,394 7,317 7,384 6,888 7,054
China Airlines Cargo  Taiwan 5,336 #14 6,359 7,513 #11 6,317 5,334 #13 5,804 #13 5,741 #12 5,273 #12 5,343 #12 5,266
Singapore Airlines Cargo  Singapore 4,854 #16 5,193 #15 5,462 #16 4,156 #17 6,146 #12 6,491 #11 6,592 6,345 6,083 6,019
Sources [27] [28] [29] [20] [30] [21] [22] [23] [24] [31]

By fleet size

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Aircraft operated

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Delta Air Lines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of September 2024.
September 2024[32]
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Delta Air Lines[a]  United States 991 [33]
2 United Airlines[a]  United States 972 [34]
3 American Airlines[a]  United States 970 [35]
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 818 [36]
5 China Southern Airlines  China 660 [37]
6 China Eastern Airlines  China 620 [38]
7 SkyWest Airlines[b]  United States 575 [39]
8 Air China  China 496 [40]
9 FedEx Express[c]  United States 466 [41]
10 IndiGo  India 396 [42]
  1. ^ a b c Mainline carrier. Includes mainline (non-regional) fleet only.
  2. ^ Non-mainline (regional) carrier.
  3. ^ Cargo carrier.


Aircraft owned

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China National Aviation Holdings Air China Group has the world's most valuable fleet, despite owning fewer aircraft than Delta Air Lines, Inc. or American Airlines Group, which co-lead by numbers.
July 2023[43]
Rank Holding company No. Value ($bn)
1 (tie) #52 American Airlines Group 854 #595 16.7 #14.7
1 (tie) #2 Delta Air Lines, Inc. 854 #682 15.8 #12.4
3 #1 United Airlines Holdings 764 #700 17.9 #14.0
4 #3 Southwest Airlines 759 #650 16.8 #11.4
5 #6 China Eastern Airlines 583 #501 18.5 #14.4
6 #9 Air China Group 580 #352 19.0 #11.6
7 #7 China Southern Airlines 545 #447 17.3 #14.8
8 #8 Ryanair Holdings 529 #417 15.3 #10.6
9 #5 SkyWest, Inc. 520 #511 4.5 #4.4
10 #11 Lufthansa Group 514 #268 11.7 #6.8

Aircraft capacity (million scheduled seats)

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American Airlines leads by capacity to carry passengers.
2022[44]
Rank Airline Country Annual Capacity
1 American Airlines  United States 248
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 210
3 Southwest Airlines  United States 208
4 United Airlines  United States 177
5 Ryanair  Ireland 169
6 China Southern Airlines  China 106
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 101
8 IndiGo  India 99.4
9 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 89.4
10 easyJet  United Kingdom 88.1

By route network

[edit]

Countries served

[edit]
Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of February 2024.
Main article: List of airlines serving more than 30 countries
August 2024
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 120 [45]
2 Qatar Airways  Qatar 89 [46]
3 Air France  France 85 [47]
4 Ethiopian Airlines  Ethiopia 84 [48]
5 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 80 [49]
=6 British Airways  United Kingdom 77 [50]
=6 Lufthansa  Germany 77 [51]
8 United Airlines  United States 71 [52]
9 American Airlines  United States 63 [53]
10 KLM  Netherlands 62 [54]

Passenger destinations served

[edit]
Main article: List of airlines with more than 100 destinations
United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of February 2024.
August 2024
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 United Airlines  United States 371 [52]
2 American Airlines  United States 356 [53]
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 311 [55]
4 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 287 [56]
5 China Southern Airlines  China 247 [57]
6 Ryanair  Ireland 234 [58]
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 226 [59]
8 Lufthansa  Germany 219 [51]
9 British Airways  United Kingdom 214 [50]
10 Air France  France 205 [47]

Routes served

[edit]
Southwest Airlines serves the largest number of routes, as of February 2024.
February 2024[citation needed]
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Southwest Airlines  United States 3,161 [60]
2 Ryanair  Ireland 2,631 [61]
3 American Airlines  United States 1,237 [53]
4 China Eastern Airlines  China 1,051 [59]
5 United Airlines  United States 1,033 [52]
6 Delta Air Lines  United States 975 [55]
7 China Southern Airlines  China 963 [57]
8 Air China  China 641 [62]
9 IndiGo  India 610 [63]
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 531 [64]

Number of daily flights

[edit]
August 2024[65]
Rank Airline Country No.
1 American Airlines  United States 4,753
2 United Airlines  United States 4,101
3 Ryanair  Ireland 3,292
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 3,274
5 Delta Air Lines  United States 2,872
6 China Eastern Airlines  China 2,387
7 China Southern Airlines  China 2,268
8 IndiGo  India 2,074
9 Air China  China 1,681
10 easyJet  United Kingdom 1,338

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The World's Largest Public Companies". Forbes.
  2. ^ "Airlines 50 2024". Brand Finance. Brandirectory. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b "2023 World Airline Report: Airline Traffic Table". Air Transport World. July/August 2023. Aviation Week Network. 4 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Traffic table". Flight Global. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Traffic table". Flight Global. 2020.
  6. ^ "Traffic rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
  7. ^ "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
  8. ^ a b "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2018.
  9. ^ "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2017.
  10. ^ "Global Air Traffic & Top Airlines 2016 (IATA)". IMM International. 28 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015.
  12. ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015.
  13. ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013.
  14. ^ a b "Cirium Airline Passenger Rankings for 2021". September 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  15. ^ "Airline top 100 2022". Airfinance Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Airlines, Airports and Airliners 2020 full year results" (PDF). France Aviation Civile Services. April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2016)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  18. ^ "Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2015)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  19. ^ "Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2013)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  20. ^ a b "World Air Transport Statistics 2021" (PDF). 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  21. ^ a b "World Air Transport Statistics" (PDF). IATA. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-29.
  22. ^ a b "62nd World Air Transport Statistics" (png). IATA. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2017.[permanent dead link]
  24. ^ a b "Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  25. ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015.
  26. ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014.
  27. ^ Jeffrey, Rebecca (2 September 2024). "Top 25 cargo carriers: Cargo goes slow on growth in 2023". aircargo news. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Top 25 Cargo Airlines 2022". Air Cargo News. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  29. ^ url=https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/top-25-air-cargo-carriers-for-2021-revealed/
  30. ^ Brett, Damian (29 July 2020). "Top 25 cargo airlines 2019: FedEx retains the top spot as Qatar climbs". Air Cargo News. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  31. ^ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015.
  32. ^ "Country Index". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  33. ^ "Delta Air Lines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  34. ^ "United Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  35. ^ "American Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  36. ^ "Southwest Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  37. ^ "China Southern Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  38. ^ "China Eastern Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  39. ^ "SkyWest Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  40. ^ "Air China Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  41. ^ "FedEx Express Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  42. ^ "IndiGo Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  43. ^ "Airline top 100 2023". Airfinance Journal. Vol. 73.
  44. ^ Grant, John (19 December 2022). "An Overview of Airline Capacity from 2019-2022 as the Travel Recovery Continues". OAG.
  45. ^ "Turkish Airlines". ch-aviation.
  46. ^ "Qatar Airways". ch-aviation.
  47. ^ a b "Air France". ch-aviation.
  48. ^ "Ethiopian Airlines". ch-aviation.
  49. ^ "Emirates". ch-aviation.
  50. ^ a b "British Airways". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  51. ^ a b "Lufthansa". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  52. ^ a b c "United Airlines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  53. ^ a b c "American Airlines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  54. ^ "KLM Royal Dutch Airlines". ch-aviation.
  55. ^ a b "Delta Air Lines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  56. ^ "Turkish Airlines". ch-aviation.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  57. ^ a b "China Southern Airlines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  58. ^ "Ryanair Q1 FY25 Results" (PDF). Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  59. ^ a b "China Eastern Airlines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  60. ^ "Southwest Airlines". ch-aviation.
  61. ^ "Ryanair". ch-aviation.
  62. ^ "Air China". ch-aviation.
  63. ^ "IndiGo Airlines". ch-aviation.
  64. ^ "Turkish Airlines". ch-aviation.
  65. ^ "Top 100 biggest airlines by number of daily departures". flightsfrom.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
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