World's largest airlines
The world's largest airlines can be defined in several ways. American Airlines Group is the largest by its fleet size, revenue, passengers carried and revenue passenger mile. Delta Air Lines is the largest by assets value and market capitalization, while Southwest Airlines leads by profit. Lufthansa Group is the largest by number of employees, FedEx Express by freight tonne-kilometers, Turkish Airlines by number of countries served and UPS Airlines by number of destinations served (or United Airlines when excluding freight-only carriers).
Contents
By revenue[edit]

Rank | Airline | Country | Revenue | Profit | Assets | Market cap. |
Employees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(US$ billions) | |||||||
1 | American Airlines Group | ![]() |
43.0 | 1.9 | 53.3 | 19.9 | 126,600 |
2 | Delta Air Lines | ![]() |
42.1 | 3.5 | 54.1 | 37.1 | 87,000 |
3 | Lufthansa | ![]() |
41.5 | 2.8 | 47.1 | 14.1 | 129,424 |
4 | United Airlines | ![]() |
38.3 | 2.2 | 44.0 | 18.6 | 89,800 |
5 | Air France–KLM | ![]() ![]() |
29.1 | -0.3 | 29.3 | 3.8 | 83,522 |
6 | IAG | ![]() ![]() |
26.0 | 2.3 | 32.7 | 19.4 | 63,994 |
7 | Southwest Airlines | ![]() |
21.2 | 3.6 | 25.5 | 30.4 | 56,100 |
8 | China Southern Airlines | ![]() |
19.7 | 1.0 | 35.0 | 14.6 | 96,234 |
9 | All Nippon Airways | ![]() |
17.8 | 1.3 | 24.1 | 12.8 | 33,719 |
10 | China Eastern Airlines | ![]() |
15.7 | 0.8 | 36.2 | 15.5 | 75,277 |
Note that Emirates is a state-owned company and is thus not included in this list of public companies. Its 2014-2015 revenue was DH 88.819 billion (US$24.2 billion), profit DH 4.555 billion (US$1.24 billion), and assets DH 111.362 billion (US$30.34 billion) with 56,725 employees.
By passengers carried[edit]
Rank | Airline | Country | 2017[2] | 2016[3] | 2015[4] | 2014[5] | 2013[6] | 2012[7] | 2011[8] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | American Airlines Group | ![]() |
199.6 | 198.7 | 146.53 | 87.83 | 86.823 | 86.335 | 86.042 |
2 | Delta Air Lines | ![]() |
186.4 | 183.7 | 138.842 | 129.433 | 120.636 | 116.726 | 113.731 |
3 | Southwest Airlines | ![]() |
157.8 | 151.8 | 144.575 | 129.087 | 115.323 | 112.234 | 110.587 |
4 | United Airlines | ![]() |
148.1 | 143.2 | 95.384 | 90.439 | 90.161 | 92.619 | 50.473 |
5 | Ryanair | ![]() |
130.3 | 119.8 | 101.401 | 86.370 | 81.395 | 79.649 | 76.422 |
6 | Lufthansa Group | ![]() |
130.0 | 62.4 | 59.850 | 63.273 | 64.393 | 63.012 | |
7 | China Southern Airlines | ![]() |
126.3 | 84.9 | 109.301 | 100.683 | 91.504 | 86.277 | 80.545 |
8 | China Eastern Airlines | ![]() |
110.8 | 80.9 | 75.139 | 66.174 | 62.653 | 79.611 | |
9 | IAG | ![]() ![]() |
104.8 | ||||||
10 | Air China Group | ![]() |
101.6 |
The IATA reports numbers for individual air operator's certificates and groups of multiple airlines can report larger numbers.
By scheduled passenger-kilometers flown (millions)[edit]
Rank | Group | Country | 2017[2] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | American Airlines Group | ![]() |
364,191 |
2 | Delta Air Lines | ![]() |
350,299 |
3 | United Airlines Holdings | ![]() |
347,963 |
4 | The Emirates Group | ![]() |
292,221 |
5 | Lufthansa Group | ![]() |
261,156 |
6 | International Airlines Group | ![]() ![]() |
252,819 |
7 | Air France–KLM | ![]() ![]() |
248,476 |
8 | China Southern Airlines | ![]() |
230,697 |
9 | Southwest Airlines | ![]() |
207,802 |
10 | Air China | ![]() |
201,090 |
Rank | Airline | Country | 2018 [citation needed] |
2016[9] | 2015[10] | 2014[11] | 2013[12] | 2012[13] | 2011[14] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | American Airlines | ![]() |
330,577 | 320,044 | 320,813 | 208,046 | 206,551 | 203,336 | 203,485 |
2 | Delta Air Lines | ![]() |
330,034 | 308,088 | 302,512 | 290,862 | 277,560 | 271,567 | 269,724 |
3 | United Airlines | ![]() |
329,562 | 299,080 | 294,970 | 287,547 | 286,802 | 288,282 | 160,270 |
4 | Emirates | ![]() |
302,298 | 270,797 | 251,190 | 230,855 | 209,377 | 180,880 | 153,264 |
5 | Southwest Airlines | ![]() |
214,561 | 200,848 | 189,097 | 162,445 | 145,124 | 137,708 | 134,918 |
6 | China Southern Airlines | ![]() |
200,239 | 205,720 | 189,186 | 166,074 | 147,841 | 135,021 | 121,944 |
7 | Ryanair | ![]() |
170,900 | 142,740 | 125,194 | ||||
8 | China Eastern Airlines | ![]() |
166,282 | 138,042 | |||||
9 | Air China | ![]() |
161,199 | - | |||||
10 | Lufthansa | ![]() |
158,986 | 149,702 | 145,904 | 143,403 | 144,236 | 142,512 | 140,972 |
British Airways | ![]() |
144,028 | 140,780 | 137,204 | 130,129 | 124,318 | 116,864 |
By scheduled freight ton-kilometers (millions)[edit]
Rank | Airline | Country | 2018 [citation needed] |
2017 [citation needed] |
2016[9] | 2015[10] | 2014[15] | 2013[16] | 2012[17] | 2011[18] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | FedEx Express | ![]() |
17,499 | 16,851 | 15,712 | 15,799 | 16,020 | 16,127 | 16,108 | 15,939 |
2 | Emirates SkyCargo | ![]() |
12,713 | 12,715 | 12,270 | 12,157 | 11,240 | 10,459 | 9,319 | 8,132 |
3 | Qatar Airways Cargo | ![]() |
12,695 | 10,999 | 9,221 | 7,660 | 5,997 | 4,972 | ||
4 | UPS Airlines | ![]() |
12,459 | 11,940 | 11,264 | 10,807 | 10,936 | 10,584 | 10,416 | 10,566 |
5 | Cathay Pacific Cargo | ![]() |
11,284 | 10,772 | 9,947 | 9,935 | 9,464 | 8,241 | 8,433 | 9,109 |
6 | Korean Air Cargo | ![]() |
7,839 | 8,015 | 7,666 | 7,761 | 8,079 | 7,666 | 8,144 | 8,974 |
7 | Lufthansa Cargo | ![]() |
7,394 | 7,317 | 7,384 | 6,888 | 7,054 | 7,218 | 7,175 | 7,674 |
8 | Cargolux | ![]() |
7,322 | 7,322 | 6,878 | 6,309 | 5,753 | 5,225 | ||
9 | Air China Cargo | ![]() |
7,051 | 6,701 | 6,089 | 5,718 | ||||
10 | China Southern Airlines | ![]() |
6,597 | |||||||
Singapore Airlines Cargo | ![]() |
6,592 | 6,345 | 6,083 | 6,019 | 6,240 | 6,694 | 7,118 |
By fleet size[edit]
Rank | Airline | Country | Fleet | Widebody | Narrowbody | Regional aircraft |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | American Airlines | ![]() |
957 | 155 | 782 | 20 |
2 | Delta Air Lines | ![]() |
880 | 151 | 729 | |
3 | United Airlines | ![]() |
777 | 191 | 586 | |
4 | Southwest Airlines | ![]() |
753 | 753 | ||
5 | China Eastern Airlines | ![]() |
607 | 91 | 513 | 3 |
6 | China Southern Airlines | ![]() |
603 | 97 | 463 | 19 |
7 | SkyWest | ![]() |
486 | 486 | ||
8 | Ryanair | ![]() |
456 | 456 | ||
9 | Air China | ![]() |
439 | 130 | 306 | |
10 | FedEx Express | ![]() |
378 | 267 | 111 | |
11 | Lufthansa | ![]() |
360 | 115 | 198 | 47 |
12 | Turkish Airlines | ![]() |
332 | 107 | 225 |
By number of countries served[edit]

Rank | Airline | Country | Countries served (S1 2019)[20] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Turkish Airlines | ![]() |
121 |
2 | Air France | ![]() |
91 |
3 | British Airways | ![]() |
82 |
4 | Ethiopian Airlines | ![]() |
81 |
5 | Emirates | ![]() |
78 |
6 | Qatar Airways | ![]() |
78 |
7 | Lufthansa | ![]() |
75 |
8 | KLM | ![]() |
67 |
9 | American Airlines | ![]() |
62 |
United Airlines | ![]() |
62 |
By number of routes[edit]
Rank | Airline | Country | Routes served (S1 2019)[20] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ryanair | ![]() |
1,831 |
2 | American Airlines | ![]() |
1,106 |
3 | United Airlines | ![]() |
950 |
4 | easyJet | ![]() |
945 |
5 | Delta Air Lines | ![]() |
939 |
6 | Southwest Airlines | ![]() |
754 |
7 | China Southern | ![]() |
667 |
7 | China Eastern | ![]() |
648 |
8 | Wizz Air | ![]() |
615 |
9 | Air China | ![]() |
470 |
10 | TUI Airways | ![]() |
470 |
By number of destinations[edit]

Rank | Airline | Country | Destinations (Dec. 2017) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | UPS Airlines | ![]() |
815 |
2 | FedEx Express | ![]() |
375 |
3 | United Airlines | ![]() |
373 |
4 | American Airlines | ![]() |
350 |
5 | Delta Air Lines | ![]() |
320 |
6 | Turkish Airlines | ![]() |
302 |
7 | Lufthansa | ![]() |
274 |
8 | China Eastern Airlines | ![]() |
217 |
9 | Air France | ![]() |
204 |
10 | Air China | ![]() |
201 |
By brand value[edit]
Rank | Airline | Country | $bn |
---|---|---|---|
1 | American Airlines | ![]() |
9.094 |
2 | Delta Air Lines | ![]() |
8.712 |
3 | United Airlines | ![]() |
7.027 |
4 | Emirates | ![]() |
5.336 |
5 | Southwest Airlines | ![]() |
5.298 |
6 | China Southern Airlines | ![]() |
4.063 |
7 | China Eastern Airlines | ![]() |
3.81 |
8 | British Airways | ![]() |
3.484 |
9 | Air China | ![]() |
3.433 |
10 | Lufthansa | ![]() |
2.914 |
See also[edit]
- List of largest airlines in North America
- List of largest airlines in Europe
- List of largest airlines in Central America & 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
- Flag carrier
- 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 airline holding companies
- 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
References[edit]
- ^ "The World's Largest Public Companies". Forbes. 2018.
- ^ a b "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2018.
- ^ "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2017.
- ^ "Global Air Traffic & Top Airlines 2016 (IATA)". IMM International. 28 June 2016.
- ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015.
- ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015.
- ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013.
- ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 17, 2012.
- ^ a b "Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2017.
- ^ a b "Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2016.
- ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015.
- ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014.
- ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
- ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012.
- ^ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015.
- ^ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014.
- ^ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
- ^ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 15, 2012.
- ^ "World Airline Fleets". Air Transport World. July 2019. p. 45-55.
- ^ a b "Ethiopian Airlines set to serve more country markets than MEB3 in S19, Ryanair still tops route table". Airline Network News and Analysis. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
- ^ "Top 10 World's Largest Airlines". AirportSpotting. 8 December 2017.
- ^ "American Airlines Tops The World's Most Valuable Airlines List in 2018". Airways International. April 26, 2018.