List of largest airlines in Europe

Last updated October 17, 2024

The following is a list of the largest airlines in Europe by total scheduled and chartered passengers, in millions. The list includes companies classified as European by the IATA. The order of the chart and its completion goes only up to the year 2023.

Country	Airline/holding	'23	'22	'21	'20	'19	'18	'17	'16	'15	'14	'13	'12	'11	'10	'09	'08	'07	'06	Fleet	Destinations	Alliance	Association
Ireland Malta Poland United Kingdom	Ryanair ^{[lower-alpha 1]}	181.74	160.4	72.4	52.01	152.4	139.2	128.77	116.8	101.4	86.4	81.40	79.61	76.4	72.7	65.3	57.7	49.0	40.5	430	186		A4E
Germany Austria Belgium Switzerland	Lufthansa Group ^{[lower-alpha 2]}	122.5	101.77	46.9	36.35	145.2	142.3	130.04	117.4	115.2	112.5	110.4	108.9	112.0	95.1	81.2	76.4	68.8	59.1	728	321	Star Alliance	A4E IATA
United Kingdom Ireland Spain	International Airlines Group ^{[lower-alpha 3]}	115.6	94.73	38.86	31.3	118.3	112.92	104.83	100.7	94.9	77.3	67.22	54.6	51.7	50.6	53.3	59.8	61.7	63.2	520	248	oneworld	A4E ERA IATA
France Netherlands	Air France-KLM ^{[lower-alpha 4]}	93.6	83.32	44.67	34.1	104.2	101.45	98.72	93.4	89.8	87.4	78.44	77.45	75.8	70.8	71.4	73.8	74.8	73.5	574	231	SkyTeam	A4E ERA IATA
Turkey	Turkish Airlines ^{[lower-alpha 5]}	83.4	71.82	44.8	27.95	74.28	75.16	68.61	62.8	61.2	54.8	48.3	39.0	32.6	29.1	25.1	22.6	19.6	16.9	400	337	Star Alliance	AIRE IATA
United Kingdom Austria Switzerland	EasyJet ^{[lower-alpha 6]}	82.8	69.7	20.4	16.09	103.3	88.5	81.63	74.5	69.9	65.3	61.33	59.21	55.5	49.7	46.1	44.6	38.2	33.0	300	136		A4E
Hungary United Kingdom Malta United Arab Emirates	Wizz Air ^{[lower-alpha 7]}	60.3	45.6	21.7	16.67	39.8	33.81	28.27	22.78	19.2	15.8	13.5	12.0	11.2	9.6	7.8	5.8	4.2	3.0	168	144
Russia	Aeroflot Group ^{[lower-alpha 8]}	47.3	40.7	45.81	30.16	60.7	55.7	50.13	43.4	39.4	34.7	31.4	27.5	16.4	14.1	11.1	11.6	10.2	8.7	336	189		IATA
Turkey	Pegasus Airlines	31.93	26.94	20.16	14.71	30.76	29.97	27.82	24.14	22.3	19.7	16.8	13.6	11.3	8.6	5.9	4.4	-	3.1	94	109		IATA
Sweden Norway Denmark Ireland	SAS Group ^{[lower-alpha 9]}	21.1	17.87	10.19	8.81	29.8	30.0	28.37	29.4	27.1	27.3	25.56	25.32	24.7	23.1	22.8	27.0	27.2	26.9	134	124	SkyTeam	ERA IATA
Norway Sweden	Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA ^{[lower-alpha 10]}	20.6	17.84	6.19	6.87	36.20	37.34	33.15	29.3	25.8	24.0	20.71	17.69	15.7	13.0	10.8	9.1	6.9	5.1	64	130		A4E
Germany Belgium Denmark Finland Ireland Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom	TUI Group ^{[lower-alpha 11]}		16.7	2.02	2.02	26.0						33.7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	133	-		A4E IATA
United Kingdom	Jet2.com	16.57	15.53	3.17	2.85	14.39	12.09	9.64	6.67	5.85	6.0	5.5	4.78	4.2	3.3	3.1	3.4	3.9	2.8	90	50		A4E
Russia	S7 Airlines ^{[lower-alpha 12]}	15.9	16.03	17.83	12.35	17.9	15.96	14.25	13.15	10.6	10.1	9.3	8.3	5.1	4.8	5.6	5.9	5.7	4.9	100	121		IATA
Portugal	TAP Air Portugal ^{[lower-alpha 13]}	15.9	13.76	5.83	4.66	17.05	15.89	14.27	11.72	11.3	11.4	10.7	10.2	9.8	9.1	8.4	8.7	7.9	6.9	110	88	Star Alliance	A4E ERA IATA
Greece	Aegean Airlines ^{[lower-alpha 14]}	15.46	12.5	7.19	5.17	14.99	13.97	13.22	12.46	11.6	10.2	8.8	8.9	9.9	10.1	10.2	11.3	11.1	10.1	67	153	Star Alliance	A4E IATA
Italy	ITA Airways	15	10.1	1.32	—															95	70	SkyTeam	IATA
Turkey	SunExpress	12.6	10.7																	68	92		IATA
Spain	Air Europa	11.74	10.03	5.04	4.26	13.13	11.84	10.6	10.6	10.2	8.1	9.0	8.1	8.7	8.9	9.0	9.7	9.9	8.1	59	44	SkyTeam	IATA
Finland	Finnair	10.9	9.10	2.85	3.48	14.65	13.28	11.90	10.87	10.2	9.6	9.27	8.77	8.0	7.1	7.4	8.3	8.7	8.8	73	103	oneworld	A4E IATA
Spain	Volotea	10.4	9.4	6.0	3.8	7.6	6.57	4.82	4.3	2.5		1.8	1.4	-	-	-	-	-	-	23	60		A4E IATA
Poland	LOT Polish Airlines ^{[lower-alpha 15]}	10.03	9.3	4.2	3.59	11.79	10.61	6.89	5.58	6.1	5.9	6.3	5.8	5.5	5.0	4.0	4.3	3.7	-	91	120	Star Alliance	AIRE IATA
Russia	Ural Airlines	9.41	8.49	9.20	5.60	9.62	9.0	8.0	6.47	5.4	5.1	4.4	3.5	2.5	1.8	1.5	1.5	1.2	1.0	47	66		IATA
Kazakhstan	Air Astana ^{[lower-alpha 16]}	8.1	7.4	6.62	3.70	5.12	4.32	4.19	3.75	3.86	3.77	3.68	3.24	3.06	2.57	2.20	2.30	2.13	1.47	34	69		IATA
Germany	Condor		7.0																				IATA
Russia	UTair Aviation	6.06	5.54	7.12	4.90	8.09	7.65	7.3	6.65	8.8	11.2	10.4	7.8	5.8	5.2	3.9	3.23	2.93	2.42	66	117		IATA
Czech Republic Hungary Poland Slovakia	Smartwings ^{[lower-alpha 17]}		5.2	2.53	1.8	9.6	8.8	8.17	7.3		6.57	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	57	?	SkyTeam	IATA
United Kingdom	Virgin Atlantic	5.3	4.4	1.10	1.19	5.87	5.4	5.20	5.20	5.94	6.2	5.5	5.4	5.3	5.3	5.7	5.7	5.1	4.6	40	37	SkyTeam	IATA
Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan Airways	5.02	4.23	2.01	0.93	3.80	3.17	2.70	2.47	2.57	2.63	2.68	2.65	2.32	2.16	1.89	2.07	1.99	1.71				IATA
Spain	Binter Canarias ^{[lower-alpha 18]}	5.00	4.43	3.14	2.27	4.0	3.6	3.4	2.7	2.65	2.6	2.1	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.63	2.9	3.02	3.0				IATA
Latvia	AirBaltic	4.54	3.44	1.6	1.36	5.05	4.14	3.52	2.89	2.6	2.8	2.95	3.08	3.4	3.2	2.8	-	2.0	1.4	32	60		A4E IATA
Russia	Nordwind Airlines	4.3		5.93	2.94	5.54	4.92	3.55	1.79	2.67	4.47	3.66	2.17	1.72	1.19	-	-	-	-	26	97		IATA
Iceland	Icelandair Group ^{[lower-alpha 19]}	4.3	3.66	1.46	0.89	4.41	4.14	4.05	3.67	3.0	2.9	2.6	2.4	1.8	1.7	1.8	1.5	1.6	1.5	47	36		A4E IATA
Greece	Sky Express	4.3	3.30	1.72		1.20	1.00	0.50	0.17	0.07	—									17	43		ERA
Serbia	Air Serbia	4.19	2.75	1.59	0.87	2.81	2.48	2.61	2.62	2.55	2.3	-	1.3	1.2	1.0	1.0	1.3	1.3	1.2	34	81		ERA IATA
Russia	Smartavia	3.80	3.24	3.62	1.64	2.03	1.19	1.09	0.96	0.73	0.76	0.76	0.81	1.47	1.4	-	-	-	-	15	67		IATA
Norway	Widerøe	3.3	3.28	2.45	1.77	3.00																	ERA IATA
Poland	Enter Air	3.1	2.2	1.72			1.12	1.17	1.11	1.17	-	-	-	-	-	1.2	—			19	74
Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan Airlines	2.9	2.25	0.87	0.57	2.60	1.89	2.29						1.4	1.0					32	57		IATA
Russia	Red Wings Airlines	2.72	2.21	3.00	1.54	3.07	2.62	1.62	0.92	1.04	0.92	0.35	0.82	0.78	0.88	-	-	-	-	18	20
Luxembourg	Luxair ^{[lower-alpha 20]}	2.5	2.05	1.08	0.66	2.15	2.13	1.93	1.84	1.81	1.68	1.5	1.4	1.3	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2		17	59		A4E ERA IATA
Portugal	SATA Group ^{[lower-alpha 21]}	2.4	1.92	1.28	0.67	1.71	0.89	0.99	0.86														ERA IATA
Romania	TAROM	2.3	1.99	1.5	0.90	3.3	2.80	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.2	2.1	2.2	2.2	2.2	1.7	2.0	1.9	1.5	25	50	SkyTeam	IATA
Russia	Azimuth	2.3	1.9	2.09	1.22	1.25	0.67	0.07	—											11	31
Russia	Azur Air		2.1	3.73	1.93	5.79	4.24	3.75	2.34	2.35	0.21	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27
Belarus	Belavia		1.6			4.00	3.39	3.0	2.49	2.09	1.97	1.6	1.3	1.0		0.7				29	48		IATA
Croatia	Croatia Airlines	1.73	1.45	0.79	0.62	2.18	2.17	2.13	1.94	1.8	1.8	1.8	2.0	1.9	1.6	1.8	1.7	1.5		13	40	Star Alliance	ERA IATA
Moldova Romania	HiSky	1.6	0.8	0.1	—
Malta	Air Malta						1.7	1.5		1.73	1.74	1.76	1.66	1.68	1.68	1.64	1.74	1.63	1.61	8	37		ERA IATA
Ukraine Malta	SkyUp ^{[lower-alpha 22]}	1.55	1.08	2.57	1.25	1.71	0.44	—												14	64
Iceland	PLAY	1.52	0.79	0.10	—															10	41
Russia	Aurora	1.35	1.16	1.07	Part of Aeroflot Group								—
Russia	NordStar	1.26	1.08	1.16	0.88	1.28	1.42	1.4	1.29	1.13	1.1	1.24	1.16	0.77	0.54	-	—			15	50		IATA
United Kingdom	Loganair	1.23	1.29	0.73	0.35	0.95	0.76	0.77	0.75	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	34	44		ERA
Russia	IrAero	1.14	0.98	0.93	0.95
Russia	Ikar	1.1		1.72	0.76	2.16	2.02	1.38	0.99	1.08	1.24	0.28	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	29
Russia	Yamal Airlines			1.26	0.70	1.75	1.97	1.79	1.45	1.43	1.45	1.3	0.91	0.57	0.5					36	38
Russia	I-Fly						1.13	0.75	0.4	0.61	0.97	1.05	0.63	0.41	0.38	-	-	-	-	10	30
Norway	Norse Atlantic Airways	0.98	0.30		—															12	11
Bulgaria	Bulgaria Air	0.73	0.63	0.57	0.51	1.40	1.27	1.24	1.25	1.27	1.40						1.20	1.12		10	26		IATA
Ukraine	Windrose					1.44	1.30													12	19
Ukraine	Ukraine International Airlines	-	-	2.79	1.73	7.97	8.08	6.93	6.0	4.8	3.8	4.5	2.8	1.9	1.7	0.8	1.7	0.3		42	80		IATA

Notes

↑ Includes Lauda Europe, Ryanair UK, Malta Air and Buzz.
↑ Includes Lufthansa (inc. Lufthansa Regional (inc. Lufthansa CityLine and Air Dolomiti)), Eurowings, Swiss International Air Lines (inc. Edelweiss Air), Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
↑ Includes British Airways (inc. BA CityFlyer), Iberia (inc. Air Nostrum and Iberia Express), Vueling Airlines, Level and Aer Lingus (inc. Aer Lingus Regional).
↑ Includes Air France (inc. Air France Hop and Transavia France) and KLM (inc. KLM cityhopper, and Transavia).
↑ Includes AnadoluJet.
↑ Includes EasyJet UK, EasyJet Switzerland, and EasyJet Europe.
↑ Includes Wizz Air UK, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and Wizz Air Malta.
↑ Includes Rossiya Airlines and Pobeda.
↑ Includes Scandinavian Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines Ireland and SAS Link.
↑ Includes Norwegian Air Norway and Norwegian Air Sweden.
↑ Includes Arkefly (TUI fly Netherlands), Jetairfly (TUI fly Belgium), TUIfly (TUI fly Deutschlandand), TUI fly Nordic, Thomson Airways and Corsair International.
↑ Includes Citrus.
↑ Includes TAP Express.
↑ Includes Olympic Air.
↑ Includes LOT Charters.
↑ Includes Air Astana and FlyArystan.
↑ Includes Czech Airlines, SmartWings, Smartwings Hungary, Smartwings Poland, Smartwings Slovakia.
↑ Includes Canarias Airlines and Naysa Servicios Aéreos
↑ Includes Icelandair and Air Iceland Connect.
↑ Includes Luxair Luxembourg Airlines and LuxairTours.
↑ Includes Azores Airlines and SATA Air Açores
↑ Includes SkyUp MT.

Related Research Articles

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, known informally as Schiphol Airport, is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located 9 kilometres southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province of North Holland. It is the world's third busiest airport by international passenger traffic in 2023. With almost 72 million passengers in 2019, it is the third-busiest airport in Europe in terms of passenger volume and the busiest in Europe in terms of aircraft movements. With an annual cargo tonnage of 1.74 million, it is the 4th busiest in Europe. AMS covers a total area of 6,887 acres of land. The airport is built on the single-terminal concept: one large terminal split into three departure halls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marrakesh Menara Airport</span> Airport in Morocco

Marrakesh Menara Airport is an international airport serving Marrakesh, the capital city of the Marrakesh-Safi region in Morocco. It is an international facility that receives several European flights as well as flights from Casablanca, some of the Arab world nations and from 2024, flights from North America. The airport served over 6.3 million passengers in 2019.

George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Belfast Harbour and is 3 miles (4.8 km) from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Spirit AeroSystems aircraft manufacturing facility. The airport began commercial operations in 1983, and was known as "Belfast City Airport" until it was renamed in 2006 in memory of George Best, the professional footballer from Belfast. The airport has a CAA public use aerodrome licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza, often referred to as the Rinas International Airport, is one of the two main international airports of the Republic of Albania. It serves the city of Tirana, its metropolitan area, and surrounding region in the county of Tirana. The airport is named in honor of the Albanian Roman Catholic nun and missionary, Mother Teresa (1910–1997). It is located 6 nautical miles northwest of Tirana, in the municipality of Krujë, Durrës County.

Malta International Airport is the only airport in Malta, and it serves the whole of the Maltese Islands. It is located on the island of Malta, southwest of the Maltese capital, Valletta, in the town of Luqa, and occupies the location of the former RAF Luqa. The airport serves as the main hub for KM Malta Airlines and Medavia besides being an operating base for Ryanair and its subsidiary Malta Air. It is also home to the Area Control Center and hosts the annual Malta Airshow. The airport is operated by Malta International Airport plc.

Gran Canaria Airport is a passenger and freight airport on the island of Gran Canaria. It is an important airport within the Spanish air transport network, as it holds the sixth position in terms of passengers, and fifth in terms of operations and cargo transported. It also ranks first of the Canary Islands in all three categories, although the island of Tenerife has higher passenger numbers overall if statistics from the two airports located on the island are combined. The facility covers 553 hectares of land and contains two 3,100m runways.

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport, also known as Vincenzo Bellini Airport, is an international airport 2.3 NM southwest of Catania, the second largest city on the Italian island of Sicily. It is named after the opera composer Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in Catania.

Tenerife South Airport, also known as Tenerife South–Reina Sofía Airport, is the larger of the two international airports located on the island of Tenerife and the second busiest in the Canary Islands.

Paphos International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located 6.5 kilometres south-east of the city of Paphos on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is the country's second largest airport, after Larnaca International Airport. Paphos Airport is commonly used by tourists on vacation in western Cyprus, providing access to popular resorts such as Coral Bay, Limassol, and Paphos itself.

Salzburg Airport, branded as Salzburg Airport W. A. Mozart, is Austria's second largest airport. It serves Salzburg, the fourth-largest Austrian city, and is a gateway to Austria's numerous ski areas. The airport is located 1.7 NM west-south-west of the Salzburg City centre and 2 km (1.2 mi) from the Austrian-German border. It is jointly owned by Salzburg Municipality (25%) and Salzburg State (75%). The airport is named after the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport is an international airport of Bordeaux, in southwestern France. It is situated in the commune of Mérignac, 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Bordeaux, within the département of the Gironde. It mainly features flights to metropolitan and leisure destinations in Europe, Northern Africa, and Canada, and serves as a base for easyJet, Ryanair and Volotea.

Aviapartner, whose origins date back to 1949 under the name of Herfurth Air Services to become 'Belgavia' in the late 1960s, is a Belgian company that provides ground handling services at 72 airports in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and recently in South-Africa. Among the airports served are Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Düsseldorf, Rome, Nice, Toulouse and Málaga.

Kos International Airport "Ippokratis" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Κω "Ιπποκρατης"; named for Hippocrates) is an international airport on the island of Kos in Greece. It is located near Antimachia Village, and is operated by Fraport AG.

An inflight magazine is a free magazine distributed via the seats of an airplane, by an airline company, or in an airport lounge.

Palma de Mallorca Airport — also known as Son Sant Joan Airport – is an international airport located 8 km (5.0 mi) east of Palma, Mallorca, Spain, adjacent to the village of Can Pastilla.

List of largest airlines in Europe

Contents

Notes

See also

Related Research Articles

References

Further reading