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Largest airlines in the world

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The largest airlines in the world can be measured in several ways. As of 2024, United Airlines was the largest in terms of available seat miles (ASM),[1] revenue seat miles (RPM),[2] mainline fleet size,[3] and the number of both mainline employees[4] and destinations served;[5] Delta Air Lines was the most valuable by revenue, assets, market capitalization, and brand value[6]; American Airlines Group carries the most passengers and has the most employees when American Eagle is included; FedEx Express carries the most freight in tonne-kilometers; Southwest Airlines has the greatest number of routes; and Turkish Airlines serves the most countries.[7]

Financial Performance

[edit]
Delta Air Lines ranks first by revenue, total assets, market capitalization and brand value.
United Airlines ranks first in ASM, RPM, fleet size and number of destinations and employees.
American Airlines Group ranks first by number of passengers carried.

Revenue ($b 2024)

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Rank Airline Group Country Revenue Net Income Assets Market
Cap 		Employees
(US$ billions)
1 Steady Delta Air Lines  United States 61.6 3.5 75.3 39 103,000[8]
2 Steady United Airlines Holdings  United States 57.1 3.1 74.1 32 107,300[9]
3 Steady American Airlines Group  United States 54.2 1.3 68.8 11 133,300[10]
4 Steady Lufthansa Group  Germany 40.4 1.5 51.1 9 98,739
5 Rise International Airlines Group  Spain/ United Kingdom 34.2 2.9 41.6 21 71,794
6 Fall Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 33.9 0.69 37.5 2.4 76,566
7 Steady Southwest Airlines  United States 27.5 0.47 33.8 17 72,450[11]
8 Rise China Southern Airlines  China 24.5 –0.59 43.7 13 97,899
9 Rise Air China  China 23.0 1.6 22.0 17 87,190
10 Fall Turkish Airlines  Turkey 22.5 6.8 35.6 12 57,991

Note that Emirates is a state-owned company, and is thus not included in this list of public companies. Its 2024 revenue was estimated to be around $37.4B or 5th place. Qatar Airways Group is similarly privately held with its 2024 revenue of around $22.2B or 10th place (with Emirates included).

Brand Value ($b 2024)[12]

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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%

Capacity

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Available Seat Miles (ASM in billions)[13]

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Rank Airline Country 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 Ref
1 United Airlines  United States 311 291 248 179 123 285 [14]
2 American Airlines  United States 293 278 260 215 143 285 [15]
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 288 272 233 194 134 275 [16]
4 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 222 230 177 99 40 228 [17]
5 Southwest Airlines  United States 178 170 148 132 103 157 [18]
6 Qatar Airways  Qatar 159 157 131 100 58 149 [19]
7 Ryanair  Ireland 159 152 138 91 30 118 [20]
8 China Southern Airlines  China 151 197 96 133 134 214 [21]
9 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 145 146 124 80 47 117 [22]
10 China Eastern Airlines  China 138 114 60 100 95 168 [23]

Available Seat Kilometers (ASK in billions)

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Rank Airline Group Country 2022 2021 2020 2019
1 American Airlines Group  United States 347 259 147 388
2 United Airlines Holdings  United States 332 207 118 385
3 Delta Air Lines Group  United States 314 216 118 382
4 Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 237 116 81 275
5 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 225 93
#11		 78 298
6 International Airlines Group  UK/ Spain 215 78
#15		 72 285
7 Lufthansa Group  Germany 207 89
#13		 69 296
8 Southwest Airlines  United States 199 166 87 211
#11
9 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 162 86
#14		 153
#15
10 Qatar Airways  Qatar 154 172
#13
Sources [24] [25][26] [27] [28]

Passengers (millions)

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Rank Airline Group Country 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
1 American Airlines Group  United States 211 199 124 95 215 203
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 190 175 123 80 204 192
3 Ryanair  Ireland 182 168 97 52 148 142
4 United Airlines Holdings  United States 165 144 73 57 162 158
5 Southwest Airlines  United States 137 157 123 67 162 163
6 Lufthansa Group  Germany 123 101 24 36 145 142
7 IAG  UK &
 Spain 		115 95 31
#12		 118 112
8 IndiGo  India 105 75 48 35
#11		 61
#16
9 Air France–KLM  France &
 Netherlands 		94 83 28
#14		 85
#12
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 83 72 45 28
#17=		 75
#14
Sources [29] [24] [30] [27] [31] [32]

Available Seats (millions, 2025)

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American Airlines leads by capacity to carry passengers.
Rank Airline Country Annual capacity
1 American Airlines  United States 250
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 230
3 United Airlines  United States 214
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 208
5 China Southern Airlines  China 180
6 Ryanair  Ireland 170
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 162
8 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 130
9 easyJet  United Kingdom 127
10 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 100

Scheduled Freight (millions of CTK)[33]

[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
1 FedEx Express  United States 17,923 19,547 20,660 19,656 17,503 17,499
2 Qatar Airways Cargo  Qatar 14,406 14,267 16,102 13,740 13,024 12,695
3 UPS Airlines  United States 14,239 15,889 15,529 14,371 12,842 12,459
4 Emirates SkyCargo  United Arab Emirates 10,636 10,153 11,842 9,569 12,052 12,713
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
7 Turkish Cargo  Turkey 8,325 8,318 9,223 6,977 7,029 5,890
8 Cathay Pacific Cargo  Hong Kong 8,099 5,774 #13 8,215 8,137 10,930 11,284
9 China Southern Airlines Cargo  China 7,610 6,915 8,078 6,591 6,825 6,597
10 Cargolux  Luxembourg 6,807 7,971 8,587 7,345 7,180 7,322

Fleet Size

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Aircraft operated (March 2025)

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United Airlines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of March 2025.
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 United Airlines  United States 1009 [34]
2 American Airlines  United States 981 [35]
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 978 [36]
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 797 [citation needed]
5 China Southern Airlines  China 666 [citation needed]
6 China Eastern Airlines  China 661 [citation needed]
7 SkyWest Airlines  United States 562 [citation needed]
8 Air China  China 503 [citation needed]
9 FedEx Express  United States 471 [citation needed]
10 IndiGo  India 439

Aircraft owned (January 2025)

[edit]
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.
Rank Holding company No. Value ($bn)
1 United Airlines Holdings 1,007 #700 17.9 #14.0
2 Delta Air Lines, Inc. 987 #682 15.8 #12.4
3 Air China Group 907 #352 19.0 #11.6
4 American Airlines Group 854 #595 16.7 #14.7
5 Southwest Airlines 830 #650 16.8 #11.4
6 Lufthansa Group 721 #268 11.7 #6.8
7 China Southern Airlines 663 #447 17.3 #14.8
8 China Eastern Airlines 652 #501 18.5 #14.4
9 Ryanair Holdings 607 #417 15.3 #10.6
10 Air France-KLM Group 572 #227 10.7 #7.8
11 IAG 570 #284 10.4 #4.8
12 SkyWest, Inc. 520 #511 4.5 #4.4

Network

[edit]

Countries served (August 2024)

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Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of February 2024.
Main article: List of airlines by countries served
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 122 [37]
2 Qatar Airways  Qatar 88 [38]
3 Ethiopian Airlines  Ethiopia 86 [39]
4 Air France  France 84 [40]
5 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 80 [41]
=6 British Airways  United Kingdom 76 [42]
=6 Lufthansa  Germany 76 [43]
8 United Airlines  United States 75 [44]
9 KLM  Netherlands 64 [45]
10 American Airlines  United States 61 [46]

Passenger Destinations served (January 2025)[47]

[edit]
Main article: List of airlines with more than 100 destinations
United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of February 2024.
Rank Airline Country No.
1 United Airlines  United States 374
2 American Airlines  United States 355
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 311
4 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 287
5 Ryanair  Ireland 239
6 China Southern Airlines  China 238
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 224
8 Lufthansa  Germany 216
8 British Airways  United Kingdom 216
10 Air France  France 197

Routes served (February 2024)

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Southwest Airlines serves the largest number of routes, as of February 2024.
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Southwest Airlines  United States 3,161 [48]
2 Ryanair  Ireland 2,631 [49]
3 American Airlines  United States 1,237 [46]
4 China Eastern Airlines  China 1,051
5 United Airlines  United States 1,033
6 Delta Air Lines  United States 975
7 China Southern Airlines  China 963
8 Air China  China 641
9 IndiGo  India 610
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 531

Daily Flights (August 2024)[50]

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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

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ https://www.airwaysmag.com/new-post/largest-airlines-april
  2. ^ https://www.statista.com/chart/32723/selected-economical-indicators-of-american-delta-southwest-and-united/
  3. ^ https://www.flightglobal.com/fleets/united-claims-worlds-largest-mainline-fleet-following-milestone-aircraft-delivery/161777.article
  4. ^ https://ir.united.com/static-files/137d1550-984b-4f42-a6ae-82db5e856f95
  5. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/UA
  6. ^ https://www.threads.net/@datainrace/post/DDzjpjESdl2/media
  7. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/tk
  8. ^ https://s2.q4cdn.com/181345880/files/doc_financials/2024/q4/DAL-12-31-2024-10K-2-11-25-Filed.pdf
  9. ^ https://ir.united.com/static-files/137d1550-984b-4f42-a6ae-82db5e856f95
  10. ^ https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/node/42651/html
  11. ^ https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/~/media/Files/S/Southwest-IR/2024-10k-final.pdf
  12. ^ "Airlines 50 2024". Brand Finance. Brandirectory. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  13. ^ https://airadvisor.com/en-us/blog/worlds-biggest-airlines
  14. ^ https://ir.united.com/static-files/137d1550-984b-4f42-a6ae-82db5e856f95
  15. ^ https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/static-files/9fae85f6-eafd-4b11-ae37-5c302871a245
  16. ^ https://s2.q4cdn.com/181345880/files/doc_financials/2024/q4/DAL-12-31-2024-10K-2-11-25-Filed.pdf
  17. ^ https://c.ekstatic.net/ecl/documents/annual-report/2022-2023.pdf
  18. ^ https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/southwest/SEC/sec-show.aspx?FilingId=18167883&Cik=0000092380&Type=PDF&hasPdf=1
  19. ^ https://www.statista.com/statistics/691525/qatar-airways-available-seat-kilometers/#:~:text=In%20the%20fiscal%20year%202023,seat%20kilometers%20throughout%20the%20years.
  20. ^ https://investor.ryanair.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ryanair-2024-Annual-Report.pdf
  21. ^ https://www.csair.com/en/about/investor/yejibaogao/2023/resource/0ea6e9bd43e92fdcdb0a5f2bf9916dc4.pdf
  22. ^ https://investor.turkishairlines.com/documents/infografik/fact-sheet-2023.pdf
  23. ^ https://www.ceair.com/global/en_static/AboutChinaEasternAirlines/intoEasternAirlines/InvestorRelations/announcement/HongKongStockExchange/hkExcReleased2024_1/202404/P020240426346233104414.pdf
  24. ^ a b "2023 World Airline Report: Airline Traffic Table". Air Transport World. July/August 2023. Aviation Week Network. 4 August 2023.
  25. ^ "Cirium Airline Passenger Rankings for 2021". September 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  26. ^ "Airline top 100 2022". Airfinance Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Traffic table". Flight Global. 2020.
  28. ^ "Airlines, Airports and Airliners 2020 full year results" (PDF). France Aviation Civile Services. April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  29. ^ https://airadvisor.com/en-us/blog/worlds-biggest-airlines
  30. ^ "Traffic table". Flight Global. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  31. ^ "Traffic rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
  32. ^ "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
  33. ^ "Top 25 cargo airlines: Goes Slow on Growth in 2023". 2 September 2024.
  34. ^ https://sites.google.com/site/unitedfleetsite/mainline-fleet-tracking
  35. ^ https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/static-files/9fae85f6-eafd-4b11-ae37-5c302871a245
  36. ^ https://s2.q4cdn.com/181345880/files/doc_financials/2024/q4/DAL-12-31-2024-10K-2-11-25-Filed.pdf
  37. ^ "Turkish Airlines". ch-aviation.
  38. ^ "Qatar Airways". ch-aviation.
  39. ^ "Ethiopian Airlines". ch-aviation.
  40. ^ "Air France". ch-aviation.
  41. ^ "Emirates". ch-aviation.
  42. ^ "British Airways". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  43. ^ "Lufthansa". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  44. ^ "United Airlines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  45. ^ "KLM Royal Dutch Airlines". ch-aviation.
  46. ^ a b "American Airlines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  47. ^ https://airadvisor.com/en-us/blog/worlds-biggest-airlines
  48. ^ "Southwest Airlines". ch-aviation.
  49. ^ "Ryanair". ch-aviation.
  50. ^ "Top 100 biggest airlines by number of daily departures". flightsfrom.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
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