Largest airlines in the world

Template:Short description The largest airlines in the world can be measured in several ways. Template:As of, United Airlines was the largest in terms of available seat miles (ASM),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> revenue seat miles (RPM),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> mainline fleet size,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the number of both mainline employees<ref name="auto2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and destinations served;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Delta Air Lines was the most valuable by revenue, assets, market capitalization, and brand value;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Financials

File:N501DN@PEK (20180324151921).jpg

Delta Air Lines ranks first by revenue, total assets, market capitalization and brand value.

File:N24976@PEK (20200421150836).jpg

United Airlines ranks first in ASM, RPM, fleet size and number of both destinations and employees.

File:N822AN American Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner s-n 40642 (37914578311).jpg

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 Template:Same	Delta Air Lines	Template:Flag	61.6	3.5	75.3	39	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2 Template:Same	United Airlines	Template:Flag	57.1	3.1	74.1	32	107,300<ref name="auto2"/>
3 Template:Same	American Airlines Group	Template:Flag	54.2	1.3	68.8	11	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
4 Template:Same	Lufthansa Group	Template:Flag	40.4	1.5	51.1	9	98,739
5 Template:Same	Air France–KLM	Template:Flag/Template:Flag	36.2	0.69	37.5	2.4	76,566<ref>https://www.airfranceklm.com/sites/default/files/2025-02/2024.12_afklm_financial_statements_and_notes.pdfTemplate:Dead link</ref>
6 Template:Same	International Airlines Group	Template:Flag/Template:Flag	34.2	2.9	41.6	21	71,794
7 Template:Same	Southwest Airlines	Template:Flag	27.5	0.47	33.8	17	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
8 Template:Rise	China Southern Airlines	Template:Flag	24.5	Template:Sort	43.7	13	97,899
9 Template:Rise	Air China	Template:Flag	23.0	1.6	22.0	17	87,190
10 Template:Fall	Turkish Airlines	Template:Flag	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

citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Airline	Country	$bn	Year-to-year change
1 Template:Same	Delta Air Lines	Template:Flag	14.9	Template:Change
2 Template:Rise	United Airlines	Template:Flag	12.3	Template:Change
3 Template:Fall	American Airlines	Template:Flag	11.7	Template:Change
4 Template:Same	Emirates	Template:Flag	8.4	Template:Change
5 Template:Same	Southwest Airlines	Template:Flag	6.3	Template:Change
6 Template:Same	British Airways	Template:Flag	4.6	Template:Change
7 Template:Rise	China Southern Airlines	Template:Flag	4.1	Template:Change
8 Template:Fall	Qatar Airways	Template:Flag	3.9	Template:Change
9 Template:Fall	Air Canada	Template:Flag	3.2	Template:Change
10 Template:Same	China Eastern Airlines	Template:Flag	3.2	Template:Change

Capacity

Airlines by available seat miles (ASMs)

Numbers are listed in billions of available seat miles.

Rank	Airline	Country	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	Ref
1	United Airlines	Template:Flag	311	291	248	179	123	285	<ref name="auto2"/>
2	American Airlines	Template:Flag	293	278	260	215	143	285	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
3	Delta Air Lines	Template:Flag	288	272	233	194	134	275	<ref name="auto3"/>
4	Emirates	Template:Flag	222	230	177	99	40	228	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
5	Southwest Airlines	Template:Flag	178	170	148	132	103	157	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
6	Qatar Airways	Template:Flag	159	157	131	100	58	149	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
7	Ryanair	Template:Flag	159	152	138	91	30	118	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
8	China Southern Airlines	Template:Flag	151	197	96	133	134	214	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
9	Turkish Airlines	Template:Flag	145	146	124	80	47	117	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
10	China Eastern Airlines	Template:Flag	138	114	60	100	95	168	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Airline groups by available seat kilometers (ASKs)

Numbers are listed in billions of ASKs.

Rank	Airline Group	Country	2022	2021	2020	2019
1	American Airlines Group	Template:Flag	347	259	147	388
2	United Airlines Holdings	Template:Flag	332	207	118	385
3	Delta Air Lines Group	Template:Flag	314	216	118	382
4	Air France–KLM	Template:Flag/Template:Flag	237	116	81	275
5	Emirates	Template:Flag	225	93 Template:Small	78	298
6	International Airlines Group	Template:Flag/Template:Flag	215	78 Template:Small	72	285
7	Lufthansa Group	Template:Flag	207	89 Template:Small	69	296
8	Southwest Airlines	Template:Flag	199	166	87	211 Template:Small
9	Turkish Airlines	Template:Flag	162	86 Template:Small		153 Template:Small
10	Qatar Airways	Template:Flag	154			172 Template:Small
Sources			<ref name="AW2023" />	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="AJ22">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	<ref name="WorldAirlineRankings2020" />	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Airline groups by passengers (millions)

Rank	Airline Group	Country	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
1	American Airlines Group	Template:Flag	225	211	199	124	95	215	203
2	Delta Air Lines	Template:Flag	200	190	175	123	80	204	192
3	Ryanair	Template:Flag	183.7	182	168	97	52	148	142
4	United Airlines Holdings	Template:Flag	174	165	144	73	57	162	158
5	Southwest Airlines	Template:Flag	140	137	157	123	67	162	163
6	Lufthansa Group	Template:Flag	131	123	101	24	36	145	142
7	International Airlines Group	Template:Flag/Template:Flag	122	115	95	31 Template:Small	118	112
8	IndiGo	Template:Flag	118.6	105	75	48	35 Template:Small		61 Template:Small
9	Air France–KLM	Template:Flag/Template:Flag	98	118	83		28 Template:Small		85 Template:Small
10	Turkish Airlines	Template:Flag	83.4	83	72	45	28 Template:Small=		75 Template:Small
Sources				<ref name="AW2023">Template:Cite journal</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Freight (millions of CTK)

File:N885FD B777F Fedex (7001569004).jpg

FedEx Express is the largest by freight tonne-kilometers.

Rank<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Airline	Country	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
1	FedEx Express	Template:Flag	18,133	17,923	19,547	20,660	19,656	17,503	17,499
2	Qatar Airways Cargo	Template:Flag	15,211	14,406	14,267	16,102	13,740	13,024	12,695
3	UPS Airlines	Template:Flag	15,094	14,239	15,889	15,529	14,371	12,842	12,459
4	Emirates SkyCargo	Template:Flag	12,354	10,636	10,153	11,842	9,569	12,052	12,713
5	Atlas Air	Template:Flag	11,942	8,915	8,675	8,441	5,458 Template:Small	4,522 Template:Small	4,553 Template:Small
6	Turkish Cargo	Template:Flag	10,240	8,325	8,318	9,223	6,977	7,029	5,890
7	Korean Air Cargo	Template:Flag	8,728	8,411	9,518	10,429	8,104	7,412	7,839
8	China Southern Airlines Cargo	Template:Flag	8,653	7,610	6,915	8,078	6,591	6,825	6,597
9	Cathay Cargo	Template:Flag	8,503	8,099	5,774 Template:Small	8,215	8,137	10,930	11,284
10	Cargolux	Template:Flag	8,263	6,807	7,971	8,587	7,345	7,180	7,322

Fleet size

Aircraft operated (September 2025)

File:United Boeing 757-200 N58101 on final approach to Boston March 2025.jpg

United Airlines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of September 2025.

Rank	Airline	Country	Template:Abbr	Template:Refh
1	United Airlines	Template:Flag	1,050	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2	American Airlines	Template:Flag	1,001	<ref name="auto3"/>
3	Delta Air Lines	Template:Flag	992	<ref>https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/static-fi/9fae85f6-eafd-4b11-ae37-5c302871a245Template:Dead link</ref>
4	China Southern Airlines	Template:Flag	850	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
5	Southwest Airlines	Template:Flag	810	<ref name="auto1"/>
6	China Eastern Airlines	Template:Flag	664	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
7	Ryanair	Template:Flag	639	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
8	SkyWest Airlines	Template:Flag	579	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
9	Turkish Airlines	Template:Flag	512	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
10	Air China	Template:Flag	510	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Aircraft owned (January 2025)

File:Air China Boeing 747-800 B-2482 p aft delta 717 YDSC 1672 (29481934346).jpg

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	Template:Abbr	Value ($bn)
1	United Airlines Holdings	1,026 Template:Increase	17.9 Template:Up
2	Delta Air Lines, Inc.	1,007 Template:Increase	15.8 Template:Up
3	Air China Group	907 Template:Increase	19.0 Template:Up
4	American Airlines Group	746 Template:Increase	16.7 Template:Up
5	Lufthansa Group	721 Template:Increase	11.7 Template:Up
6	Southwest Airlines	697 Template:Down	15.9 Template:Down
7	China Southern Airlines	663 Template:Increase	17.3 Template:Up
8	China Eastern Airlines	652 Template:Increase	18.5 Template:Up
9	Ryanair Holdings	607 Template:Increase	15.3 Template:Up
10	Air France-KLM Group	572 Template:Increase	10.7 Template:Up
11	IAG	570 Template:Increase	10.4 Template:Up
12	SkyWest, Inc.	520 Template:Increase	4.5 Template:Up

Network

Destinations served (August 2025)

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File:United Boeing 777-300ER N2352U IAD VA1.jpg

United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of February 2024.

Rank	Airline	Country	Template:Abbr
1	United Airlines	Template:Flag	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2	American Airlines	Template:Flag	356
3	Turkish Airlines	Template:Flag	352
4	Delta Air Lines	Template:Flag	311
5	Ryanair	Template:Flag	239
6	China Southern Airlines	Template:Flag	235
7	China Eastern Airlines	Template:Flag	224
8	Lufthansa	Template:Flag	214
9	British Airways	Template:Flag	213
10	Air France	Template:Flag	196

Countries served (June 2025)

File:VT-JEM@LHR 16SEP13 (9775923834).jpg

Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of June 2025.

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Rank	Airline	Country	Template:Abbr	Template:Refh
1	Turkish Airlines	Template:Flag	131	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2	Qatar Airways	Template:Flag	92	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
3	Ethiopian Airlines	Template:Flag	87	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
4	Air France	Template:Flag	86	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
5	Emirates	Template:Flag	80	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
6	British Airways	Template:Flag	77	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
7	United Airlines	Template:Flag	76	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
8	Lufthansa	Template:Flag	75	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
9	KLM	Template:Flag	66	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
10	American Airlines	Template:Flag	61	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Flights daily (March 2025)

citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Airline	Country	Template:Abbr
1	American Airlines	Template:Flag	5,946
2	Delta Air Lines	Template:Flag	4,343
3	United Airlines	Template:Flag	4,167
4	Southwest Airlines	Template:Flag	3,592
5	Ryanair	Template:Flag	2,584
6	China Eastern Airlines	Template:Flag	2,506
7	IndiGo	Template:Flag	2,244
8	China Southern Airlines	Template:Flag	2,125
9	Air China	Template:Flag	1,659
10	easyJet	Template:Flag	1,298

Routes served (August 2025)

File:Southwest Boeing 737-800 N8610A BWI MD1.jpg

Southwest Airlines serves the largest number of routes, as of February 2024.

Rank	Airline	Country	Template:Abbr	Template:Refh
1	Southwest Airlines	Template:Flag	2,898	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2	Ryanair	Template:Flag	2,596	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
3	American Airlines	Template:Flag	1,250	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
4	United Airlines	Template:Flag	1,185	<ref name="auto"/>
5	Delta Air Lines	Template:Flag	1,128	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
6	China Eastern Airlines	Template:Flag	1,047	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
7	China Southern Airlines	Template:Flag	841	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
8	Air China	Template:Flag	646	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
9	IndiGo	Template:Flag	610
10	Turkish Airlines	Template:Flag	368	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• Flag carrier
• List of largest airlines in North America
• List of largest airlines in Europe
• List of largest airlines in Central America and 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
• List of airline holding companies
• 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 the busiest airports
• List of busiest airports by passenger traffic
• List of busiest airports by aircraft movements
• List of busiest passenger air routes