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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] 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]

Financials

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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 both destinations and employees.
American Airlines Group ranks first by number of passengers carried.
2024 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  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 Steady Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 36.2 0.69 37.5 2.4 76,566[11]
6 Steady International Airlines Group  United Kingdom/ Spain 34.2 2.9 41.6 21 71,794
7 Steady Southwest Airlines  United States 27.5 0.47 33.8 17 72,450[12]
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

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2025 Rank[13] Airline Country $bn Year-to-year
change
1 Steady Delta Air Lines  United States 14.9 +38.3%
2 Rise United Airlines  United States 12.3 +41.8%
3 Fall American Airlines  United States 11.7 +14.2%
4 Steady Emirates  United Arab Emirates 8.4 +27.1%
5 Steady Southwest Airlines  United States 6.3 +16.8%
6 Steady British Airways  United Kingdom 4.6 +44.9%
7 Rise China Southern Airlines  China 4.1 +48.2%
8 Fall Qatar Airways  Qatar 3.9 +24.3%
9 Fall Air Canada  Canada 3.2 +14.1%
10 Rise China Eastern  China 3.2 +25.9%

Capacity

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Airlines by available seat miles (ASMs)

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Numbers are listed in billions of ASMs.

Rank[14] Airline Country 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 Ref
1 United Airlines  United States 311 291 248 179 123 285 [15]
2 American Airlines  United States 293 278 260 215 143 285 [16]
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 288 272 233 194 134 275 [17]
4 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 222 230 177 99 40 228 [18]
5 Southwest Airlines  United States 178 170 148 132 103 157 [19]
6 Qatar Airways  Qatar 159 157 131 100 58 149 [20]
7 Ryanair  Ireland 159 152 138 91 30 118 [21]
8 China Southern Airlines  China 151 197 96 133 134 214 [22]
9 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 145 146 124 80 47 117 [23]
10 China Eastern Airlines  China 138 114 60 100 95 168 [24]

Airline groups by available seat kilometers (ASKs)

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Numbers are listed in billions of ASKs.

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  United Kingdom/ 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 [25] [26][27] [28] [29]

Airline groups by 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 Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 118 83 28
#14		 85
#12
8 International Airlines Group  United Kingdom/ Spain 115 95 31
#12		 118 112
9 IndiGo  India 105 75 48 35
#11		 61
#16
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 83 72 45 28
#17=		 75
#14
Sources [30] [25] [31] [28] [32] [33]

Freight (millions of CTK)

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For broader coverage of this topic, see Cargo airline.
FedEx Express is the largest by freight tonne-kilometers.
Rank[34] 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 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 (June 2025)

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United Airlines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of June 2025.
Rank[35] Airline Country No. Ref.
1 United Airlines  United States 1,034 [36]
2 American Airlines  United States 991 [37]
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 986 [38]
4 China Southern Airlines  China 850 [39]
5 Southwest Airlines  United States 801 [40]
6 China Eastern Airlines  China 800 [41]
7 Ryanair  Ireland 624 [42]
8 SkyWest Airlines  United States 579 [citation needed]
9 Air China  China 500 [43]
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 484 [44]


Aircraft owned (January 2025)

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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.
Rank Holding company No. Value ($bn)
1 United Airlines Holdings 1,026 #700 17.9 #14.0
2 Delta Air Lines, Inc. 1,007 #682 15.8 #12.4
3 Air China Group 907 #352 19.0 #11.6
4 American Airlines Group 746 #595 16.7 #14.7
5 Lufthansa Group 721 #268 11.7 #6.8
6 Southwest Airlines 697 #650 15.9 #11.4
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

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Destinations served (March 2025)

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Main article: List of airlines with more than 100 destinations
United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of February 2024.
Rank[45] Airline Country No.
1 United Airlines  United States 381[46]
2 American Airlines  United States 356
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 311
4 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 286
5 Ryanair  Ireland 239
6 China Southern Airlines  China 235
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 224
8 Lufthansa  Germany 214
9 British Airways  United Kingdom 213
10 Air France  France 196

Countries served (June 2025)

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Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of June 2025.
Main article: List of airlines by countries served
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 124 [47]
2 Qatar Airways  Qatar 92 [48]
3 Ethiopian Airlines  Ethiopia 87 [49]
4 Air France  France 86 [50]
5 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 80 [51]
=6 United Airlines  United States 77 [52]
=6 British Airways  United Kingdom 77 [53]
8 Lufthansa  Germany 75 [54]
9 KLM  Netherlands 66 [55]
10 American Airlines  United States 61 [56]

Flights daily (March 2025)

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Rank[57] Airline Country No.
1 American Airlines  United States 5,946
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 4,343
3 United Airlines  United States 4,167
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 3,592
5 Ryanair  Ireland 2,584
6 China Eastern Airlines  China 2,506
7 IndiGo  India 2,244
8 China Southern Airlines  China 2,125
9 Air China  China 1,659
10 easyJet  United Kingdom 1,298

Routes served (March 2025)

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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 2,831 [58]
2 Ryanair  Ireland 2,611 [59]
3 American Airlines  United States 1,250 [60]
4 China Eastern Airlines  China 1,038 [61]
5 United Airlines  United States 1,120 [62]
6 Delta Air Lines  United States 1,042 [63]
7 China Southern Airlines  China 814 [64]
8 Air China  China 631 [65]
9 IndiGo  India 610
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 401 [66]

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.airfranceklm.com/sites/default/files/2025-02/2024.12_afklm_financial_statements_and_notes.pdf
  12. ^ https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/~/media/Files/S/Southwest-IR/2024-10k-final.pdf
  13. ^ "Airlines 50 2025". Brand Finance. Brandirectory. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  14. ^ https://airadvisor.com/en-us/blog/worlds-biggest-airlines
  15. ^ https://ir.united.com/static-files/137d1550-984b-4f42-a6ae-82db5e856f95
  16. ^ https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/static-files/9fae85f6-eafd-4b11-ae37-5c302871a245
  17. ^ https://s2.q4cdn.com/181345880/files/doc_financials/2024/q4/DAL-12-31-2024-10K-2-11-25-Filed.pdf
  18. ^ https://c.ekstatic.net/ecl/documents/annual-report/2022-2023.pdf
  19. ^ https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/southwest/SEC/sec-show.aspx?FilingId=18167883&Cik=0000092380&Type=PDF&hasPdf=1
  20. ^ https://www.statista.com/statistics/691525/qatar-airways-available-seat-kilometers/#:~:text=In%20the%20fiscal%20year%202023,seat%20kilometers%20throughout%20the%20years.
  21. ^ https://investor.ryanair.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ryanair-2024-Annual-Report.pdf
  22. ^ https://www.csair.com/en/about/investor/yejibaogao/2023/resource/0ea6e9bd43e92fdcdb0a5f2bf9916dc4.pdf
  23. ^ https://investor.turkishairlines.com/documents/infografik/fact-sheet-2023.pdf
  24. ^ https://www.ceair.com/global/en_static/AboutChinaEasternAirlines/intoEasternAirlines/InvestorRelations/announcement/HongKongStockExchange/hkExcReleased2024_1/202404/P020240426346233104414.pdf
  25. ^ a b "2023 World Airline Report: Airline Traffic Table". Air Transport World. July/August 2023. Aviation Week Network. 4 August 2023.
  26. ^ "Cirium Airline Passenger Rankings for 2021". September 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  27. ^ "Airline top 100 2022". Airfinance Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  28. ^ a b "Traffic table". Flight Global. 2020.
  29. ^ "Airlines, Airports and Airliners 2020 full year results" (PDF). France Aviation Civile Services. April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  30. ^ https://airadvisor.com/en-us/blog/worlds-biggest-airlines
  31. ^ "Traffic table". Flight Global. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  32. ^ "Traffic rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
  33. ^ "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
  34. ^ "Top 25 cargo airlines: Goes Slow on Growth in 2023". 2 September 2024.
  35. ^ https://airadvisor.com/en-us/blog/worlds-biggest-airlines
  36. ^ https://profiles.cirium.com/showcase/united-airlines/fleet
  37. ^ https://s2.q4cdn.com/181345880/files/doc_financials/2024/q4/DAL-12-31-2024-10K-2-11-25-Filed.pdf
  38. ^ https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/static-fi/9fae85f6-eafd-4b11-ae37-5c302871a245
  39. ^ https://www.csair.com/us/en/about/gongsijianjie/#:~:text=Currently%2C%20China%20Southern%20Airlines%20operates,in%20terms%20of%20fleet%20size)%20.
  40. ^ https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/southwest/SEC/sec-show.aspx?FilingId=18167883&Cik=0000092380&Type=PDF&hasPdf=1
  41. ^ https://www.ceair.com/global/en_static/AboutChinaEasternAirlines/intoEasternAirlines/chinaeasternInto/#:~:text=Currently%2C%20China%20Eastern%20operates%20a,and%20technical%20models%20in%20China.
  42. ^ https://corporate.ryanair.com/about-us/our-fleet/
  43. ^ https://inc.skywest.com/assets/Uploads/FilingReports/SKYW-2024-10-K.pdf
  44. ^ https://investor.turkishairlines.com/en/financial-and-operational/fleet
  45. ^ https://airadvisor.com/en-us/blog/worlds-biggest-airlines
  46. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/ua
  47. ^ "Turkish Airlines". ch-aviation.
  48. ^ "Qatar Airways". ch-aviation.
  49. ^ "Ethiopian Airlines". ch-aviation.
  50. ^ "Air France". ch-aviation.
  51. ^ "Emirates". ch-aviation.
  52. ^ "United Airlines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  53. ^ "British Airways". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  54. ^ "Lufthansa". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  55. ^ "KLM Royal Dutch Airlines". ch-aviation.
  56. ^ "American Airlines". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  57. ^ "Top 100 biggest airlines by number of daily departures". flightsfrom.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  58. ^ "Southwest Airlines". ch-aviation.
  59. ^ "Ryanair". ch-aviation.
  60. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/AA
  61. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/mu
  62. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/ua
  63. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/dl
  64. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/cz
  65. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/ca
  66. ^ https://www.ch-aviation.com/airlines/TK
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