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

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 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)

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)

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)

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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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)

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)

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