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Largest airlines in the world facts for kids

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The largest airlines in the world can be measured in several ways. As of 2025, United Airlines was the largest by fleet size and Passenger destinations served; Delta Air Lines was the largest by revenue, assets, market, and brand value; American Airlines Group by passengers carried 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 2021, 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.

By financial performance

Delta Air Lines ranks first by revenue, total assets, market capitalization and brand value.
N822AN American Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner s-n 40642 (37914578311)
American Airlines Group ranks first by number of employees and passengers carried.

Revenue

Forbes' world's biggest public airline companies by revenue (as of May 2024)
Rank Airline Country Revenue Profit Assets Market
cap.		 Employees
(US$ billions)
1 Steady Delta Air Lines  United States 59 5 75 34 100,000
2 Rise United Airlines Holdings  United States 54.8 2.7 71.9 18.1 103,300
3 Fall American Airlines Group  United States 53.2 0.5 64.4 9.7 132,100
4 Steady Lufthansa Group  Germany 38.8 1.5 51.1 8.7 96,677
5 Steady Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 32.9 0.69 37.5 3 75,000
6 Rise International Airlines Group  Spain/ United Kingdom 31.8 2.9 41.6 11.1 71,794
7 Fall Southwest Airlines  United States 26.7 0.43 36 16.7 74,806
8 Rise China Southern Airlines  China 22.5 –0.59 43.7 7.3 99,468
9 Fall Turkish Airlines  Turkey 21.2 6.8 35.6 13.8 55,884
10 Steady Air Canada  Canada 16.4 1.6 22 4.8 35,675
11 China Eastern Airlines  China 16 –1.2 40.1 5.5 81,781

Note that Emirates is a state-owned company, and is thus not included in this list of public companies. Its revenue was estimated to be around US$37.4 billion in 2024, which would have had placed the company into 5th place. Previous estimations of over US$29.2 billion and 6th place in 2023, over US$18 billion and 5th place in 2021. Qatar Airways Group is similarly privately held with its 2024 revenue of around 22.2 billion USD placing it into 10th place (with Emirates included) above Turkish Airlines. Previously nearly 21 billion USD and 9th place in 2023.

Brand value

Largest airlines by brand value (US$ billions) according to Brand Finance (2024)
Rank Airline Country $bn Year-to-year
change
1 Steady Delta Air Lines  United States 10.771 &10000000000000020724052+20.7%
2 Steady American Airlines  United States 10.242 &10000000000000020664467+20.7%
3 Steady United Airlines  United States 8.676 &10000000000000011488049+11.5%
4 Steady Emirates  United Arab Emirates 6.610 &10000000000000029506269+29.5%
5 Steady Southwest Airlines  United States 5.394 &10000000000000014692749+14.7%
6 Rise British Airways  United Kingdom 3.175 &10000000000000045242451+45.2%
7 Rise Qatar Airways  Qatar 3.138 &10000000000000027044534+27.0%
8 Rise Air Canada  Canada 2.805 &10000000000000008552631+8.6%
9 Fall China Southern Airlines  China 2.767 Template:Number table sorting/negative−14.3%
10 Rise Ryanair  Ireland 2.541 &10000000000000007124789+7.1%

By flight volume

Passengers carried

Millions of passengers carried
Rank Airline group Country 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
1 American Airlines Group  United States 199 95.3 215 203 199 198 146 87.8 86.8 86.3
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 175 80.0 204 192 186 183 138 129 120 116
3 Ryanair  Ireland 168 52.4 148 142 130 119 101 86.3 81.3 79.6
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 157 67.8 162 163 157 151 144 129 115 112
5 United Airlines Holdings  United States 144 57.8 162 158 148 143 95.3 90.4 90.1 92.6
6 Lufthansa Group  Germany 101 36.4 145 142 130 117 115 112 110 108
7 IAG  UK &
 Spain		 94.7 31.3
#12		 118 112 104 100 94.9 77.3 67.2 54.6
8 Air France–KLM  France &
 Netherlands		 83.3 28.9
#14		 85.6
#12
9 IndiGo  India 75.3 35.0
#11		 61.9
#16
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 71.8 28.0
#17=		 75.2
#14
China Southern Air Holding  China 62.6
#12		 96.9 151 139 126 84.9 109 100 91.5 86.2
China Eastern Air Holding  China 42.5
#17		 74.5 130 121 110 80.9 75.1 66.1 62.6 79.6
Air China Group  China 38.6
#24		 68.7 115 109 101 96.5 89.8 83.0 77.7 72.4
Alitalia  Italy 22.7
#24
Hainan Airlines Group  China 21.0
#39		 37 79.9
#13
Sources

Scheduled passenger-kilometers flown (billions)

N161SY United Express Embraer ERJ-175LR (ERJ-170-200 LR) s-n 17000569 SKYWEST AIRLINES (23945802358)
American Airlines and United Express aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport
Airline holding groups
Rank Airline group Country 2022 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016 2015 2013
1 American Airlines Group  United States 347 259 147 388 364 ~359 358 ~206
2 United Airlines Holdings  United States 332 207 118 385 347 ~328 335 ~287
3 Delta Air Lines Group  United States 314 216 118 382 350 ~342 337 ~278
4 Air France–KLM  France/ Netherlands 237 116 81.2 275 248 ~238 235 ~228
5 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 225 93.7
#11		 78.7 298 292 ~270 255 ~209
6 International Airlines Group  UK/ Spain 215 78.6
#15		 72.2 285 252 ~243 221 ~186
7 Lufthansa Group  Germany 207 89.3
#13		 69.4 296 261 ~226 220 ~153
8 Southwest Airlines  United States 199 166 87.2 211
#11		 207 ~200 189 ~167
9 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 162 153
#15
10 Qatar Airways  Qatar 154 172
#13
Ryanair  Ireland 116
#11		 ~121 185
(#12)		 130
#12		 ~103
#15
China Southern Air Holding  China 102
#13		 152 153 284 230 ~206 189 ~148
Aeroflot Group  Russia 98.4
#14		 100 68.0
#11		 156
#14		 97.6
#20
China Eastern Air Holding  China 61.2
#23		 108 107 220 183 ~167
#11		 146
#11		 ~120
#11
Air China Group  China 60.3
#24		 104 109 233 201 ~188 171 ~142
Sources
Individual airlines
Rank Airline Country 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
1 American Airlines  United States 308 237 123 342 330 323 320 320 208 206
2 United Airlines  United States 305 178 100 342 329 310 299 294 287 286
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 292 195 106 350 330 316 308 302 290 277
4 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 225 93.7 78.7 299 302 288 270 251 230 209
5 Ryanair  Ireland ~207 120 64.9 185 170 157 142 125
6 Southwest Airlines  United States 199 166 87.2 211 214 207 200 189 162 145
7 Qatar Airways  Qatar ~168 91.5 57.1 172 152
#11		 137
#11
8 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 162 86.7 52.2
#11		 150
#14		 145
#13		 125
#14
9 Air France  France 123 60.1
#13		 48.8
#12		 150
#13		 143
#14		 136
#12		 139 134 136
10 Lufthansa  Germany 119 50.0
#17		 37.5
#16		 165
#11		 158 152 149 145 143 144
British Airways  United Kingdom 104
#12		 30.6
#30		 38.8
#14		 155
#12		 151
#12		 144 140 137 130
China Southern Airlines  China 102
#13		 109 110 213 200 177 205 189 166 147
Qantas  Australia 63.8
#22		 10.1
#77		 86.1
#24		 85.6
#23		 120
#15		 110
China Eastern Airlines  China 61.2
#24		 88.6 88.7 186 166 150 138
Air China  China 60.3
#25		 67.7
#11		 71.4 169 161 146 135
#13		 112
Sources

Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions)

For broader coverage of this topic, see Cargo airline.
N885FD B777F Fedex (7001569004)
FedEx Express is the largest by freight tonne-kilometers.
Rank Airline Country 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
1 FedEx Express  United States 17,923 19,547 20,660 19,656 17,503 17,499 16,851 15,712 15,799 16,020
2 Qatar Airways Cargo  Qatar 14,406 14,267 16,102 13,740 13,024 12,695 10,999 9,221 7,660 5,997
3 UPS Airlines  United States 14,239 15,889 15,529 14,371 12,842 12,459 11,940 11,264 10,807 10,936
4 Emirates SkyCargo  United Arab Emirates 10,636 10,153 11,842 9,569 12,052 12,713 12,715 12,270 12,157 11,240
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 8,015 7,666 7,761 8,079
7 Turkish Cargo  Turkey 8,325 8,318 9,223 6,977 7,029 5,890 #12 4,728 #15 3,640 #20
8 Cathay Pacific Cargo  Hong Kong 8,099 5,774 #13 8,215 8,137 10,930 11,284 10,772 9,947 9,935 9,464
9 China Southern Airlines Cargo  China 7,610 6,915 8,078 6,591 6,825 6,597 6,174 #11 5,939 #11 5,355 #11 4,736 #12
10 Cargolux  Luxembourg 6,807 7,971 8,587 7,345 7,180 7,322 7,322 6,878 6,309 5,753
Air China Cargo  China 5,633 #12 6,077 #12 7,016 #12 6,121 #11 6,767 #11 7,051 6,701 6,089 5,718 4,910 #11
Lufthansa Cargo  Germany 5,374 #13 5,153 #16 5,324 #17 4,828 #15 7,226 7,394 7,317 7,384 6,888 7,054
China Airlines Cargo  Taiwan 5,336 #14 6,359 7,513 #11 6,317 5,334 #13 5,804 #13 5,741 #12 5,273 #12 5,343 #12 5,266
Singapore Airlines Cargo  Singapore 4,854 #16 5,193 #15 5,462 #16 4,156 #17 6,146 #12 6,491 #11 6,592 6,345 6,083 6,019
Sources

By fleet size

Aircraft operated

N24976@PEK (20200421150836)
United Airlines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of January 2025.
January 2025
Rank Airline Country No.
1 United Airlines  United States 999
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 987
3 American Airlines  United States 978
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 799
5 China Southern Airlines  China 667
6 China Eastern Airlines  China 657
7 Air China  China 508
8 SkyWest Airlines  United States 486
9 FedEx Express  United States 393
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 379

Aircraft owned

Air China Boeing 747-800 B-2482 p aft delta 717 YDSC 1672 (29481934346)
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.
January 2025
Rank Holding company No. Value ($bn)
1 United Airlines Holdings 992 #700 17.9 #14.0
2 Delta Air Lines, Inc. 987 #682 15.8 #12.4
3 Air China Group 907 #352 19.0 #11.6
4 American Airlines Group 854 #595 16.7 #14.7
5 Southwest Airlines 830 #650 16.8 #11.4
6 China Southern Airlines 663 #447 17.3 #14.8
7 China Eastern Airlines 652 #501 18.5 #14.4
8 Ryanair Holdings 607 #417 15.3 #10.6
9 SkyWest, Inc. 520 #511 4.5 #4.4
10 Lufthansa Group 514 #268 11.7 #6.8

Aircraft capacity (million scheduled seats)

American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER N775AN PVG 2013-5-21
American Airlines leads by capacity to carry passengers.
2025
Rank Airline Country Annual capacity
1 American Airlines  United States 250
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 230
3 United Airlines  United States 214
4 Southwest Airlines  United States 208
5 China Southern Airlines  China 180
6 Ryanair  Ireland 170
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 162
8 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 130
9 easyJet  United Kingdom 127
10 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 100

By route network

Countries served

VT-JEM@LHR 16SEP13 (9775923834)
Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of February 2024.
Main article: List of airlines by countries served
August 2024
Rank Airline Country No.
1 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 120
2 Qatar Airways  Qatar 89
3 Air France  France 85
4 Ethiopian Airlines  Ethiopia 84
5 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 80
=6 British Airways  United Kingdom 77
=6 Lufthansa  Germany 77
8 United Airlines  United States 73
9 American Airlines  United States 63
10 KLM  Netherlands 62

Passenger destinations served

Main article: List of airlines with more than 100 destinations
N24976@PEK (20200421150836)
United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of February 2024.
August 2024
Rank Airline Country No.
1 United Airlines  United States 371
2 American Airlines  United States 356
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 311
4 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 287
5 China Southern Airlines  China 247
6 Ryanair  Ireland 234
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 226
8 Lufthansa  Germany 219
9 British Airways  United Kingdom 214
10 Air France  France 205

Routes served

N908WN CVG (29244931277)
Southwest Airlines serves the largest number of routes, as of February 2024.
February 2024
Rank Airline Country No.
1 Southwest Airlines  United States 3,161
2 Ryanair  Ireland 2,631
3 American Airlines  United States 1,237
4 China Eastern Airlines  China 1,051
5 United Airlines  United States 1,033
6 Delta Air Lines  United States 975
7 China Southern Airlines  China 963
8 Air China  China 641
9 IndiGo  India 610
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 531

Number of daily flights

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

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
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