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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 and brand value; American Airlines Group by passengers carried, fleet size 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.
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.
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
53.99
1.90
73.13
21.81
95,000
2
American Airlines Group
United States
52.26
1.77
66.79
9.05
129,700
3
United Airlines Holdings
United States
48.82
1.92
70.42
14.7
103,300
4
Lufthansa Group
Germany
35.80
0.94
48.79
12.10
109,509
5
Air France–KLM
France / Netherlands
29.41
0.97
34.81
4.12
78,950
6
Southwest Airlines
United States
24.83
0.65
35.55
17.65
66,000
7
International Airlines Group
UK / Spain
24.28
1.15
41.95
9.41
66,044
8
Turkish Airlines
Turkey
19.68
2.79
32.00
8.88
40,264
9
China Southern Airlines
China
12.92
–4.81
44.92
12.54
100,431
10
Air Canada
Canada
12.72
–1.31
21.78
5.33
42,916
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 US$29.2 billion, which would have had placed the company into 6th place. 2021's over US$18 billion and 5th place. Its 2014-2015 revenue was DH 88.819 billion (US$ 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. Qatar Airways Group is similarly privately held with 2023 revenue of nearly 21 billion USD placing it into the 9th place (with Emirates included) above Turkish Airlines.
Scheduled passenger-kilometers flown (millions)[ edit ]
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 States
347,221
259,570
147,746
388,254
364,191
~359,400
358,823
~206,500
2
United Airlines Holdings
United States
332,997
207,572
118,878
385,211
347,963
~328,200
335,728
~287,200
3
Delta Air Lines Group
United States
314,783
216,766
118,120
382,400
350,299
~342,600
337,264
~278,000
4
Air France–KLM
France / Netherlands
237,567
116,104
81,212
275,500
248,476
~238,200
235,715
~228,900
5
Emirates
United Arab Emirates
225,867
93,799 #11
78,746
298,000
292,221
~270,800
255,176
~209,300
6
International Airlines Group
UK / Spain
215,749
78,689 #15
72,262
285,800
252,819
~243,500
221,996
186,304
7
Lufthansa Group
Germany
207,035
89,397 #13
69,462
296,500
261,156
~226,600
220,400
~153,400
8
Southwest Airlines
United States
199,425
166,667
87,242
211,379 #11
207,802
~200,700
189,057
~167,800
9
Turkish Airlines
Turkey
162,665
153,200 #15
10
Qatar Airways
Qatar
154,372
172,600 #13
Ryanair
Ireland
116,625 #11
~121,000
185,405 #12
130,588 #12
~103,500 #15
China Southern Air Holding
China
102,078 #13
152,426
153,442
284,900
230,697
~206,100
189,552
~148,400
Aeroflot Group
Russia
98,407 #14
100,112
68,014 #11
156,250 #14
97,636 #20
China Eastern Air Holding
China
61,272 #23
108,804
107,302
220,000
183,152
~167,500 #11
146,291 #11
~120,400 #11
Air China Group
China
60,354 #24
104,626
109,832
233,178
201,090
~188,100
171,695
~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
308,065
237,471
123,997
342,510
330,577
323,968
320,044
320,813
208,046
206,551
203,336
203,485
2
United Airlines
United States
305,893
178,499
100,188
342,935
329,562
310,859
299,080
294,970
287,547
286,802
288,282
160,270
3
Delta Air Lines
United States
292,202
195,312
106,488
350,145
330,034
316,378
308,088
302,512
290,862
277,560
271,567
269,724
4
Emirates
United Arab Emirates
225,867
93,799
78,746
299,496
302,298
288,886
270,797
251,190
230,855
209,377
180,880
153,264
5
Ryanair
Ireland
~207,000
120,563
64,928
185,405
170,900
157,114
142,740
125,194
6
Southwest Airlines
United States
199,263
166,631
87,263
211,379
214,561
207,762
200,848
189,097
162,445
145,124
137,708
134,918
7
Qatar Airways
Qatar
~168,000
91,551
57,171
172,591
152,210 #11
137,603 #11
8
Turkish Airlines
Turkey
162,655
86,701
52,206 #11
150,240 #14
145,521 #13
125,098 #14
9
Air France
France
123,444
60,180 #13
48,809 #12
150,870 #13
143,904 #14
136,659 #12
139,217
134,528
136,405
135,821
133,035
10
Lufthansa
Germany
119,363
50,067 #17
37,503 #16
165,945 #11
158,986
152,214
149,702
145,904
143,403
144,236
142,512
140,972
British Airways
United Kingdom
104,496 #12
30,698 #30
38,825 #14
155,252 #12
151,784 #12
144,028
140,780
137,204
130,129
124,318
116,864
China Southern Airlines
China
102,078 #13
109,309
110,650
213,573
200,239
177,458
205,720
189,186
166,074
147,841
135,021
121,944
Qantas
Australia
63,849 #22
10,157 #77
86,199 #24
85,663 #23
120,029 #15
110,203
108,051
China Eastern Airlines
China
61,288 #24
88,677
88,728
186,644
166,282
150,916
138,042
Air China
China
60,355 #25
67,745 #11
71,417
169,030
161,199
146,961
135,464 #13
112,247
-
Continental Airlines ‡
United States
—‡
131,583
‡ - marks a defunct airline.
Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions)[ edit ]
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
19,547
20,660
19,656
17,503
17,499
16,851
15,712
15,799
16,020
16,127
16,108
2
UPS Airlines
United States
15,889
15,529
14,371
12,842
12,459
11,940
11,264
10,807
10,936
10,584
10,416
3
Qatar Airways Cargo
Qatar
14,267
16,102
13,740
13,024
12,695
10,999
9,221
7,660
5,997
4,972
4
Emirates SkyCargo
United Arab Emirates
10,153
11,842
9,569
12,052
12,713
12,715
12,270
12,157
11,240
10,459
9,319
5
Korean Air Cargo
South Korea
9,518
10,429
8,104
7,412
7,839
8,015
7,666
7,761
8,079
7,666
8,144
6
Atlas Air
United States
8,675
8,441
5,458 #12
4,522 #16
4,553 #16
7
Turkish Cargo
Turkey
8,318
9,223
6,977
7,029
5,890 #12
4,728 #15
3,640 #20
8
Cargolux
Luxembourg
7,971
8,587
7,345
7,180
7,322
7,322
6,878
6,309
5,753
5,225
9
China Southern Airlines Cargo
China
6,915
8,078
6,591
6,825
6,597
6,174 #11
5,939 #11
5,355 #11
4,736 #12
10
China Airlines Cargo
Taiwan
6,359
7,513 #11
6,317
5,334 #13
5,804 #13
5,741 #12
5,273 #12
5,343 #12
5,266
4,813
4,538
Air China Cargo
China
6,077 #12
7,016 #12
6,121 #11
6,767 #11
7,051
6,701
6,089
5,718
4,910 #11
Cathay Pacific Cargo
Hong Kong
5,774 #13
8,215
8,137
10,930
11,284
10,772
9,947
9,935
9,464
8,241
8,433
Singapore Airlines Cargo
Singapore
5,193 #15
5,462 #16
4,156 #17
6,146 #12
6,491 #11
6,592
6,345
6,083
6,019
6,240
6,694
Lufthansa Cargo
Germany
5,153 #16
5,324 #17
4,828 #15
7,226
7,394
7,317
7,384
6,888
7,054
7,218
7,175
Delta Air Lines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of August 2024.
^ a b c Mainline carrier. Includes mainline (non-regional) fleet only.
^ Non-mainline (regional) carrier.
^ Cargo carrier.
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.
American Airlines leads by capacity to carry passengers.
2022[ 48]
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
Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of February 2024.
Passenger destinations served [ edit ]
United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of February 2024.
Southwest Airlines serves the largest number of routes, as of February 2024.
August 2024
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
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Airports worldwide Busiest airports by continent and country
Airlines Routes