kids encyclopedia robot

Largest airlines in the world facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The largest airlines in the world are huge companies that can be measured in many ways. For example, in 2025, United Airlines had the most planes and flew to the most places. Delta Air Lines made the most money and had the highest brand value. American Airlines Group carried the most passengers and had the most employees. FedEx Express moved the most cargo. Southwest Airlines had the most flight routes, and Turkish Airlines flew to the most countries.

In 2023, Forbes magazine said Delta Air Lines earned the most money among public airlines. American Airlines Group and United Airlines Holdings were next. Some big airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways are not on this list because they are owned by governments or private groups, not public investors. Brand Finance, a company that studies brands, said in 2024 that Delta Air Lines had the most valuable airline brand. American Airlines and United Airlines were also very high on this list. Emirates and Qatar Airways also have very valuable brands.

American Airlines Group flew the most passengers in 2021. Delta Air Lines and Ryanair were close behind. United Airlines, Lufthansa, and Southwest Airlines also carried many passengers. This shows that airlines in the US and Europe fly a lot of people.

How Airlines Make Money

Delta Air Lines is a top airline for money earned, what it owns, and its brand value.
N822AN American Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner s-n 40642 (37914578311)
American Airlines Group has the most employees and carries the most passengers.

Airlines are big businesses. We can compare them by how much money they make, how much their brand is worth, and how many passengers they fly.

Money Earned (Revenue)

Revenue is the total amount of money a company brings in from selling tickets and other services. Profit is the money left after all costs are paid. Assets are things the company owns, like planes and buildings. Market cap is how much the company is worth on the stock market.

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 owned by the government, so it's not on this list of public companies. Its revenue was about US$37.4 billion in 2024. If it were public, it would be in 5th place. Qatar Airways Group is also privately owned. Its 2024 revenue was about US$22.2 billion.

Brand Value

Brand value is how much a company's name and reputation are worth. A strong brand means people trust the airline and want to fly with it.

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%

How Many Flights They Do

Airlines can also be compared by how many passengers they carry, how far they fly them, and how much cargo they transport.

Passengers Carried

This table shows how many millions of people each airline group flew in different years.

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

Passenger-Kilometers Flown

Passenger-kilometers means the total number of passengers multiplied by the distance they flew. For example, 1 passenger flying 100 kilometers is 100 passenger-kilometers.

N161SY United Express Embraer ERJ-175LR (ERJ-170-200 LR) s-n 17000569 SKYWEST AIRLINES (23945802358)
American Airlines and United Express planes 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
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

Freight Tonne-Kilometers

Freight tonne-kilometers measures how much cargo (freight) an airline carries and how far. One tonne flown for one kilometer is one tonne-kilometer.

N885FD B777F Fedex (7001569004)
FedEx Express carries the most cargo by 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

How Many Planes They Have

Airlines can also be compared by the size of their fleet (all their planes).

Aircraft Operated

This means all the planes an airline uses, whether they own them or rent them.

N24976@PEK (20200421150836)
United Airlines uses the most planes 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

This table shows how many planes an airline company actually owns.

Air China Boeing 747-800 B-2482 p aft delta 717 YDSC 1672 (29481934346)
China National Aviation Holdings Air China Group has the most valuable fleet.
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 (Seats)

Aircraft capacity means how many seats an airline has available across all its flights in a year.

American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER N775AN PVG 2013-5-21
American Airlines can carry the most 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

Where Airlines Fly

Airlines also differ by how many countries, destinations, and routes they serve.

Countries Served

This shows how many different countries an airline flies to.

VT-JEM@LHR 16SEP13 (9775923834)
Turkish Airlines flies to the most countries as of February 2024.
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

This shows how many different cities or airports an airline flies to.

N24976@PEK (20200421150836)
United Airlines flies to the most places 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

A route is a specific path between two airports. This table shows how many different routes an airline flies.

N908WN CVG (29244931277)
Southwest Airlines flies the most 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

This table shows how many flights an airline operates each day.

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
kids search engine
Largest airlines in the world Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.