Largest airlines in the world

The largest airlines in the world can be defined in several ways. As of 2023^[update], 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

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

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	Delta Air Lines	United States	59	5	75	34	100,000
2	United Airlines Holdings	United States	54.8	2.7	71.9	18.1	103,300
3	American Airlines Group	United States	53.2	0.5	64.4	9.7	132,100
4	Lufthansa Group	Germany	38.8	1.5	51.1	8.7	96,677
5	Air France–KLM	France/ Netherlands	32.9	0.69	37.5	3	75,000
6	International Airlines Group	UK/ Spain	31.8	2.9	41.6	11.1	71,794
7	Southwest Airlines	United States	26.7	0.43	36	16.7	74,806
8	China Southern Airlines	China	22.5	–0.59	43.7	7.3	99,468
9	Turkish Airlines	Turkey	21.2	6.8	35.6	13.8	55,884
10	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 to be 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

Largest airlines by brand value (US$ billions) according to Brand Finance (2024)^[2]

Rank	Airline	Country	$bn	Year-to-year change
1	Delta Air Lines	United States	10.771	+20.7%
2	American Airlines	United States	10.242	+20.7%
3	United Airlines	United States	8.676	+11.5%
4	Emirates	United Arab Emirates	6.610	+29.5%
5	Southwest Airlines	United States	5.394	+14.7%
6	British Airways	United Kingdom	3.175	+45.2%
7	Qatar Airways	Qatar	3.138	+27.0%
8	Air Canada	Canada	2.805	+8.6%
9	China Southern Airlines	China	2.767	−14.3%
10	Ryanair	Ireland	2.541	+7.1%

By flight volume

Passengers carried

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)

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)

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

Aircraft operated

Delta Air Lines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of September 2024.

September 2024^{[citation needed]}

Rank	Airline	Country	No.	Ref.
1	Delta Air Lines[lower-alpha 1]	United States	992	[citation needed]
2	United Airlines[lower-alpha 1]	United States	971	[citation needed]
3	American Airlines[lower-alpha 1]	United States	971	[citation needed]
4	Southwest Airlines	United States	820	[citation needed]
5	China Southern Airlines	China	655	[citation needed]
6	China Eastern Airlines	China	646	[citation needed]
7	SkyWest Airlines[lower-alpha 2]	United States	574	[citation needed]
8	Air China	China	495	[citation needed]
9	FedEx Express[lower-alpha 3]	United States	466	[citation needed]
10	IndiGo	India	403	[citation needed]

1. Mainline carrier. Includes mainline (non-regional) fleet only.
2. Non-mainline (regional) carrier.
3. Cargo carrier.

Aircraft owned

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^[32]

Rank	Holding company	No.	Value ($bn)
1 (tie)	American Airlines Group	854	16.7
1 (tie)	Delta Air Lines, Inc.	854	15.8
3	United Airlines Holdings	764	17.9
4	Southwest Airlines	759	16.8
5	China Eastern Airlines	583	18.5
6	Air China Group	580	19.0
7	China Southern Airlines	545	17.3
8	Ryanair Holdings	529	15.3
9	SkyWest, Inc.	520	4.5
10	Lufthansa Group	514	11.7

Aircraft capacity (million scheduled seats)

American Airlines leads by capacity to carry passengers.

2022^[33]

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

Countries served

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	[34]
2	Qatar Airways	Qatar	89	[35]
3	Air France	France	85	[36]
4	Ethiopian Airlines	Ethiopia	84	[37]
5	Emirates	United Arab Emirates	80	[38]
=6	British Airways	United Kingdom	77	[39]
=6	Lufthansa	Germany	77	[40]
8	United Airlines	United States	71	[41]
9	American Airlines	United States	63	[42]
10	KLM	Netherlands	62	[43]

Passenger destinations served

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	[41]
2	American Airlines	United States	356	[42]
3	Delta Air Lines	United States	311	[44]
4	Turkish Airlines	Turkey	287	[45]
5	China Southern Airlines	China	247	[46]
6	Ryanair	Ireland	234	[47]
7	China Eastern Airlines	China	226	[48]
8	Lufthansa	Germany	219	[40]
9	British Airways	United Kingdom	214	[39]
10	Air France	France	205	[36]

Routes served

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	[49]
2	Ryanair	Ireland	2,631	[50]
3	American Airlines	United States	1,237	[42]
4	China Eastern Airlines	China	1,051	[48]
5	United Airlines	United States	1,033	[41]
6	Delta Air Lines	United States	975	[44]
7	China Southern Airlines	China	963	[46]
8	Air China	China	641	[51]
9	IndiGo	India	610	[52]
10	Turkish Airlines	Turkey	531	[53]

Number of daily flights

August 2024^[54]

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

• Aviation portal
• Companies portal
• Transport portal
• Lists portal

• Flag carrier
• List of largest airlines in North America
• List of largest airlines in Europe
• List of largest airlines in Central America and the Caribbean
• List of largest airlines in Africa
• List of largest airlines in Asia
• List of largest airlines in South America
• List of largest airlines in Oceania
• List of airline holding companies
• List of the busiest airports in Africa
• List of the busiest airports in Asia
• List of the busiest airports in Europe
• List of the busiest airports in Latin America
• List of the busiest airports
• List of busiest airports by passenger traffic
• List of busiest airports by aircraft movements
• List of busiest passenger air routes

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