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

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 January 2023)[1]
Rank Airline Country Revenue Profit Assets Market
cap.		 Employees
(US$ billions)
1 Delta Air Lines United States 53.991.9073.1321.8195,000
2 American Airlines Group United States 52.261.7766.799.05129,700
3 United Airlines Holdings United States 48.821.9270.4214.792,800
4 Lufthansa Group Germany 35.80.9448.7912.10109,509
5 Air France–KLM France/ Netherlands 29.410.9734.814.1278,950
6 Southwest Airlines United States 24.830.6535.5517.6566,000
7 International Airlines Group UK/ Spain 24.281.1541.959.4166,044
8 Turkish Airlines Turkey 19.682.7932.008.8840,264
9 China Southern Airlines China 12.92–4.8144.9212.54100,431
10 Air Canada Canada 12.72–1.3121.785.3342,916

Note that Emirates is a state-owned company, and is thus not included in this list of public companies. Its 2023 revenue was estimated over 29.2 billion USD, which would have had placed the company into 6th place. 2021's over 18 billion USD and 5th place. Its 2014-2015 revenue was Dhs. 88.819 billion (US$24.2 billion), profit Dhs. 4.555 billion (US$1.24 billion), and assets Dhs. 111.362 billion (US$30.34 billion), with 56,725 employees. Qatar Airways Group is similarly privately held with 2023 revenue of nearly 21 billions USD placing it into the 9th place (with Emirates included) above the Turkish Airlines.

Brand value

Largest airlines by brand value (US$ billions) according to Brand Finance (2023)[2]
Rank Airline Country $bn Year-to-year
change
1 Steady Delta Air Lines  United States 8.922 +21.8%
2 Steady American Airlines  United States 8.488 +35.5%
3 Steady United Airlines  United States 7.782 +41.9%
4 Steady Emirates  United Arab Emirates 5.104 +2.4%
5 Steady Southwest Airlines  United States 4.703 −4.6%
6 Rise China Southern Airlines  China 3.229 +39.5%
7 Rise China Eastern Airlines  China 2.852 +25.7%
8 Steady Air China  China 2.603 +9.3%
9 Fall Air Canada  Canada 2.584 +2.9%
10 Rise Qatar Airways  Qatar 2.470 +22.6%

By flight volume

Passengers carried

Millions of passengers carried
Rank Airline Group Country 2022[3][4] 2020[5] 2019[6] 2018[7] 2017[8] 2016[9] 2015[10] 2014[11] 2013[12] 2012[13] 2011[14]
1 American Airlines Group  United States 199.395.3215.2203.7199.6198.7146.5387.8386.82386.33586.042
2 Delta Air Lines Group  United States 175.080.0204.0192.5186.4183.7138.842129.433120.636116.726113.731
3 Ryanair  Ireland 168.652.4148.6142.1130.3119.8101.40186.37081.39579.64976.422
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 157.067.8162.7163.6157.8151.8144.575129.087115.323112.234110.587
5 United Airlines Holdings  United States 144.357.8162.4158.3148.1143.295.38490.43990.16192.61950.473
6 Lufthansa Group  Germany 101.836.4145.2142.3130.0117.4115.2112.5110.4108.9112.0
7 IAG  UK/ Spain 94.731.3 #12118.3112.9104.83100.794.977.367.254.651.7
8 Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 83.328.9 #1485.6 #12
9 IndiGo  India 75.335.0 #1161.9 #16
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 71.828.0 #17=75.2 #14
China Southern Air Holding  China 62.6 #1296.9151.6139.9126.384.9109.301100.68391.50486.27780.545
China Eastern Air Holding  China 42.5 #1774.5130.2121.1110.880.975.13966.17462.65379.6173.1
Air China Group  China 38.6 #2468.7115.0109.7101.696.589.883.077.772.469.4
Hainan Airlines Group  China 21.0 #393779.9 #13

Scheduled passenger-kilometers flown (millions)

American Airlines and United Express aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport
Airline holding groups
Rank Airline Group Country 2022[3] 2021[15][16] 2020[5] 2019[17] 2017[8] 2016[18] 2015[19] 2013[20]
1 American Airlines Group United States347,221259,570147,746388,254364,191~359,400358,823~206,500
2 United Airlines Holdings United States332,997207,572118,878385,211347,963~328,200335,728~287,200
3 Delta Air Lines Group United States314,783216,766118,120382,400350,299~342,600337,264~278,000
4 Air France–KLM France/ Netherlands237,567116,10481,212275,500248,476~238,200235,715~228,900
5 Emirates United Arab Emirates225,86793,799 #1178,746298,000292,221~270,800255,176~209,300
6 International Airlines Group UK/ Spain215,74978,689 #1572,262285,800252,819~243,500221,996186,304
7 Lufthansa Group Germany207,03589,397 #1369,462296,500261,156~226,600220,400~153,400
8 Southwest Airlines United States199,425166,66787,242211,379 #11207,802~200,700189,057~167,800
9 Turkish Airlines Turkey162,665153,200 #15
10 Qatar Airways Qatar154,372172,600 #13
Ryanair Ireland116,625 #11~121,000185,405 #12130,588 #12~103,500 #15
China Southern Air Holding China102,078 #13152,426153,442284,900230,697~206,100189,552~148,400
Aeroflot Group Russia98,407 #14100,11268,014 #11156,250 #1497,636 #20
China Eastern Air Holding China61,272 #23108,804107,302220,000183,152~167,500 #11146,291 #11~120,400 #11
Air China Group China60,354 #24104,626109,832233,178201,090~188,100171,695~142,600
Individual airlines
Rank Airline Country 2022[4] 2021[15] 2020[21] 2019 2018[22] 2017[23] 2016[24] 2015[25] 2014[26] 2013[27] 2012[28] 2011[29]
1 American Airlines United States 308,065237,471123,997342,510330,577323,968320,044320,813208,046206,551203,336203,485
2 United Airlines United States 305,893178,499100,188342,935329,562310,859299,080294,970287,547286,802288,282160,270
3 Delta Air Lines United States 292,202195,312106,488350,145330,034316,378308,088302,512290,862277,560271,567269,724
4 Emirates United Arab Emirates 225,86793,79978,746299,496302,298288,886270,797251,190230,855209,377180,880153,264
5 Ryanair Ireland ~207,000120,56364,928185,405170,900157,114142,740125,194
6 Southwest Airlines United States 199,263166,63187,263211,379214,561207,762200,848189,097162,445145,124137,708134,918
7 Qatar Airways Qatar ~168,00091,55157,171172,591152,210 #11137,603 #11
8 Turkish Airlines Turkey 162,65586,70152,206 #11150,240 #14145,521 #13125,098 #14
9 Air France France 123,44460,180 #1348,809 #12150,870 #13143,904 #14136,659 #12139,217134,528136,405135,821133,035
10 Lufthansa Germany 119,36350,067 #1737,503 #16165,945 #11158,986152,214149,702145,904143,403144,236142,512140,972
British Airways United Kingdom 104,496 #1230,698 #3038,825 #14155,252 #12151,784 #12144,028140,780137,204130,129124,318116,864
China Southern Airlines China 102,078 #13109,309110,650213,573200,239177,458205,720189,186166,074147,841135,021121,944
Qantas Australia 63,849 #2210,157 #7786,199 #2485,663 #23120,029 #15110,203108,051
China Eastern Airlines China 61,288 #2488,67788,728186,644166,282150,916138,042
Air China China 60,355 #2567,745 #1171,417169,030161,199146,961135,464 #13112,247-
Continental Airlines‡ United States —‡131,583

‡ - marks a defunct airline.


Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions)

FedEx Express is the largest by freight tonne-kilometers.
Rank Airline Country 2022[30] 2021[31] 2020[21] 2019[32] 2018[22] 2017[23] 2016[24] 2015[25] 2014[33] 2013[34] 2012[35]
1 FedEx Express  United States 19,54720,66019,65617,50317,49916,85115,71215,79916,02016,12716,108
2 UPS Airlines  United States 15,88915,52914,37112,84212,45911,94011,26410,80710,93610,58410,416
3 Qatar Airways Cargo  Qatar 14,26716,10213,74013,02412,69510,9999,2217,6605,9974,972
4 Emirates SkyCargo  United Arab Emirates 10,15311,8429,56912,05212,71312,71512,27012,15711,24010,4599,319
5 Korean Air Cargo  South Korea 9,51810,4298,1047,4127,8398,0157,6667,7618,0797,6668,144
6 Atlas Air  United States 8,6758,4415,458 #124,522 #164,553 #16
7 Turkish Cargo  Turkey 8,3189,2236,9777,0295,890 #124,728 #153,640 #20
8 Cargolux  Luxembourg 7,9718,5877,3457,1807,3227,3226,8786,3095,7535,225
9 China Southern Airlines Cargo  China 6,9158,0786,5916,8256,5976,174 #115,939 #115,355 #114,736 #12
10 China Airlines Cargo  Taiwan 6,3597,513 #116,3175,334 #135,804 #135,741 #125,273 #125,343 #125,2664,8134,538
Air China Cargo  China 6,077 #127,016 #126,121 #116,767 #117,0516,7016,0895,7184,910 #11
Cathay Pacific Cargo  Hong Kong 5,774 #138,2158,13710,93011,28410,7729,9479,9359,4648,2418,433
Singapore Airlines Cargo  Singapore 5,193 #155,462 #164,156 #176,146 #126,491 #116,5926,3456,0836,0196,2406,694
Lufthansa Cargo  Germany 5,153 #165,324 #174,828 #157,2267,3947,3177,3846,8887,0547,2187,175

By fleet size

Aircraft operated

Delta Air Lines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of January 2024.
January 2024[note 1][36]
RankAirlineCountryNo.Ref.
1 Delta Air Lines  United States 978 [37]
2 American Airlines  United States 965 [38]
3 United Airlines  United States 945 [39]
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 817 [40]
5 China Southern Airlines  China 661 [41]
6 China Eastern Airlines  China 625 [42]
7 SkyWest Airlines[note 2]  United States 572 [43]
8 FedEx Express[note 3]  United States 499 [44]
9 Air China  China 488 [45]
10 IndiGo  India 358 [46]
11 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 344 [47]
12 Lufthansa  Germany 329 [48]
13 Alaska Airlines  United States 315 [49]
14 Ryanair  Ireland 302 [50]
  1. ↑ Mainline carrier includes mainline fleet only; at least 300 aircraft.
  2. ↑ Non-mainline carrier.
  3. ↑ Cargo carrier.


Aircraft owned

China National Aviation Holdings Air China Group has the world's most valuable fleet, despite owning less aircraft then Delta Air Lines or American Airlines Group, which co-lead by numbers.
July 2023[51]
RankHolding groupNo.Value ($bn)
1 (tie) #4 American Airlines Group854 #59516.7 #14.7
1 (tie) #2 Delta Air Lines854 #68215.8 #12.4
3 #1 United Airlines Holdings764 #70017.9 #14.0
4 #3 Southwest Airlines759 #65016.8 #11.4
5 #6 China Eastern Airlines583 #50118.5 #14.4
6 #9 Air China Group580 #35219.0 #11.6
7 #7 China Southern Airlines545 #44717.3 #14.8
8 #8 Ryanair Holdings529 #41715.3 #10.6
9 #5 SkyWest Airlines520 #5114.5 #4.4
10 #11 Lufthansa Group514 #26811.7 #6.8

Aircraft capacity

American Airlines leads by capacity to carry passengers.
2022[52]
Rank Airline Country Annual Capacity
1 American Airlines  United States 248,299,958
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 210,132,982
3 Southwest Airlines  United States 208,191,620
4 United Airlines  United States 177,513,595
5 Ryanair  Ireland 169,559,280
6 China Southern Airlines  China 106,602,244
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 101,138,367
8 IndiGo  India 99,449,786
9 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 89,471,060
10 easyJet  United Kingdom 88,142,891

By route network

Countries served

Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of January 2024.
January 2024
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 118 [53]
2 Qatar Airways  Qatar 88 [54]
3 Air France  France 84 [55]
4 Ethiopian Airlines  Ethiopia 83 [56]
5 (tie) Emirates  United Arab Emirates 77 [57]
5 (tie) Lufthansa  Germany 77 [58]
7 British Airways  United Kingdom 76 [59]
8 United Airlines  United States 70 [60]
9 (tie) American Airlines  United States 63 [61]
9 (tie) KLM  Netherlands 63 [62]

Destinations served

United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of January 2024.
January 2024
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 United Airlines  United States 354 [60]
2 American Airlines  United States 350 [61]
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 307 [63]
4 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 287 [61]
5 China Southern Airlines  China 236 [64]
6 Ryanair  Ireland 234 [65]
7 Lufthansa  Germany 229 [58]
8 China Eastern Airlines  China 225 [66]
9 British Airways  United Kingdom 209 [59]
10 Air France  France 201 [55]

Routes served

Southwest Airlines serves the largest number of routes, as of January 2024.
January 2024
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Southwest Airlines  United States 3,584 [67]
2 Ryanair  Ireland 2,568 [65]
3 American Airlines  United States 1,237 [61]
4 United Airlines  United States 1,030 [60]
5 China Eastern Airlines  China 976 [66]
6 Delta Air Lines  United States 974 [63]
7 China Southern Airlines  China 951 [64]
8 Air China  China 640 [68]
9 IndiGo  India 622 [69]
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 556 [53]

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ "The World's Largest Public Companies". Forbes.
    2. ↑ "Airlines 50 2023". Brand Finance. Brandirectory. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
    3. 1 2 "2023 World Airline Report: Airline Traffic Table". Air Transport World. Aviation Week Network. July/August 2023. 4 August 2023.
    4. 1 2 "Traffic table". Flight Global. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
    5. 1 2 "Traffic table". Flight Global. 2020.
    6. ↑ "Traffic rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
    7. ↑ "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
    8. 1 2 "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. ↑ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 17, 2012.
    15. 1 2 "Cirium Airline Passenger Rankings for 2021". September 2022.
    16. ↑ "Airline top 100 2022". Airfinance Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
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    19. ↑ "Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2015)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
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    21. 1 2 "World Air Transport Statistics 2021" (PDF). 2021.
    22. 1 2 "World Air Transport Statistics" (PDF). IATA. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-29.
    23. 1 2 "62nd World Air Transport Statistics" (png). IATA. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
    24. 1 2 "Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2017.
    25. 1 2 "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.
    26. ↑ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015.
    27. ↑ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014.
    28. ↑ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
    29. ↑ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012.
    30. ↑ "Top 25 Cargo Airlines 2022". Air Cargo News. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
    31. ↑ url=https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/top-25-air-cargo-carriers-for-2021-revealed/
    32. ↑ 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.
    33. ↑ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015.
    34. ↑ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014.
    35. ↑ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
    36. ↑ "Country Index". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
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    38. ↑ "American Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    39. ↑ "United Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    40. ↑ "Southwest Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    41. ↑ "China Southern Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    42. ↑ "China Eastern Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    43. ↑ "SkyWest Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    44. ↑ "FedEx Express Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    45. ↑ "Air China Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    46. ↑ "IndiGo Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    47. ↑ "Turkish Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    48. ↑ "Lufthansa Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    49. ↑ "Alaska Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    50. ↑ "Ryanair Fleet". Planespotters.net.
    51. ↑ "Airline top 100 2023". Airfinance Journal. Vol. 73.
    52. ↑ Grant, John (19 December 2022). "An Overview of Airline Capacity from 2019-2022 as the Travel Recovery Continues". OAG.
    53. 1 2 "Turkish Airlines". ch-aviation.
    54. ↑ "Qatar Airways". ch-aviation.
    55. 1 2 "Air France". ch-aviation.
    56. ↑ "Ethiopian Airlines". ch-aviation.
    57. ↑ "Emirates". ch-aviation.
    58. 1 2 "Lufthansa". ch-aviation.
    59. 1 2 "British Airways". ch-aviation.
    60. 1 2 3 "United Airlines". ch-aviation.
    61. 1 2 3 4 "American Airlines". ch-aviation.
    62. ↑ "KLM Royal Dutch Airlines". ch-aviation.
    63. 1 2 "Delta Air Lines". ch-aviation.
    64. 1 2 "China Southern Airlines". ch-aviation.
    65. 1 2 "Ryanair". ch-aviation.
    66. 1 2 "China Eastern Airlines". ch-aviation.
    67. ↑ "Southwest Airlines". ch-aviation.
    68. ↑ "Air China". ch-aviation.
    69. ↑ "IndiGo Airlines". ch-aviation.
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