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Largest airlines in the world

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The largest airlines in the world can be measured in several ways. As of 2024, United Airlines was the largest in terms of available seat miles (ASM),[1] revenue seat miles (RPM),[2] mainline fleet size,[3] the number of both mainline employees[4] and destinations served;[5] Delta Air Lines was the most valuable by revenue, assets, market capitalization, and brand value[6]; 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.[7]

Financial Performance

Summarize
Perspective
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.

Revenue ($b 2024)

More information Rank, Airline Group ...
Rank Airline Group Country Revenue Net Income Assets Market
Cap		 Employees
(US$ billions)
1 Steady Delta Air Lines United States 61.63.575.339103,000[8]
2 Steady United Airlines Holdings United States 57.13.174.132107,300[9]
3 Steady American Airlines Group United States 54.21.368.811 133,300[10]
4 Steady Lufthansa Group Germany 40.41.551.1998,739
5 Rise International Airlines Group Spain/ United Kingdom 34.22.941.62171,794
6 Fall Air France–KLM France/ Netherlands 33.90.6937.52.476,566
7 Steady Southwest Airlines United States 27.50.4733.81772,450[11]
8 Rise China Southern Airlines China 24.5–0.5943.71397,899
9 Rise Air China China 23.01.622.01787,190
10 Fall Turkish Airlines Turkey 22.56.835.61257,991
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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 ($b 2024)[12]

More information Rank, Airline ...
Rank Airline Country $bn Year-to-year
change
1 Steady Delta Air Lines  United States 10.771 +20.7%
2 Steady American Airlines  United States 10.242 +20.7%
3 Steady United Airlines  United States 8.676 +11.5%
4 Steady Emirates  United Arab Emirates 6.610 +29.5%
5 Steady Southwest Airlines  United States 5.394 +14.7%
6 Rise British Airways  United Kingdom 3.175 +45.2%
7 Rise Qatar Airways  Qatar 3.138 +27.0%
8 Rise Air Canada  Canada 2.805 +8.6%
9 Fall China Southern Airlines  China 2.767 −14.3%
10 Rise Ryanair  Ireland 2.541 +7.1%
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Capacity

Available Seat Miles (ASM in billions)[13]

More information Rank, Airline ...
Rank Airline Country 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 Ref
1 United Airlines United States311291248179123285[14]
2 American Airlines United States293278260215143285[15]
3 Delta Air Lines United States288272233194134275[16]
4 Emirates United Arab Emirates2222301779940228[17]
5 Southwest Airlines United States178170148132103157[18]
6 Qatar Airways Qatar15915713110058149[19]
7 Ryanair Ireland1591521389130118[20]
8 China Southern Airlines China15119796133134214[21]
9 Turkish Airlines Turkey1451461248047117[22]
10 China Eastern Airlines China1381146010095168[23]
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Available Seat Kilometers (ASK in billions)

More information Rank, Airline Group ...
Rank Airline Group Country 2022 2021 2020 2019
1 American Airlines Group United States347259147388
2 United Airlines Holdings United States332207118385
3 Delta Air Lines Group United States314216118382
4 Air France–KLM France/ Netherlands23711681275
5 Emirates United Arab Emirates22593
#11		78298
6 International Airlines Group UK/ Spain21578
#15		72285
7 Lufthansa Group Germany20789
#13		69296
8 Southwest Airlines United States19916687211
#11
9 Turkish Airlines Turkey16286
#14		153
#15
10 Qatar Airways Qatar154172
#13
Sources [24] [25][26] [27] [28]
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Passengers (millions)

More information Rank, Airline Group ...
Rank Airline Group Country 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
1 American Airlines Group  United States 21119912495215203
2 Delta Air Lines  United States 19017512380204192
3 Ryanair  Ireland 1821689752148142
4 United Airlines Holdings  United States 1651447357162158
5 Southwest Airlines  United States 13715712367162163
6 Lufthansa Group  Germany 1231012436145142
7 IAG  UK &
 Spain		 1159531
#12		118112
8 IndiGo  India 105754835
#11		61
#16
9 Air France–KLM  France &
 Netherlands		 948328
#14		85
#12
10 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 83724528
#17=		75
#14
Sources [29] [24] [30] [27] [31] [32]
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Available Seats (millions, 2025)

Thumb
American Airlines leads by capacity to carry passengers.
More information Rank, Airline ...
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
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Scheduled Freight (millions of CTK)[33]

For broader coverage of this topic, see Cargo airline.
Thumb
FedEx Express is the largest by freight tonne-kilometers.
More information Rank, Airline ...
Rank Airline Country 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
1 FedEx Express  United States 17,92319,54720,66019,65617,50317,499
2 Qatar Airways Cargo  Qatar 14,40614,26716,10213,74013,02412,695
3 UPS Airlines  United States 14,23915,88915,52914,37112,84212,459
4 Emirates SkyCargo  United Arab Emirates 10,63610,15311,8429,56912,05212,713
5 Atlas Air  United States 8,9158,6758,4415,458 #124,522 #164,553 #16
6 Korean Air Cargo  South Korea 8,4119,51810,4298,1047,4127,839
7 Turkish Cargo  Turkey 8,3258,3189,2236,9777,0295,890
8 Cathay Pacific Cargo  Hong Kong 8,0995,774 #138,2158,13710,93011,284
9 China Southern Airlines Cargo  China 7,6106,9158,0786,5916,8256,597
10 Cargolux  Luxembourg 6,8077,9718,5877,3457,1807,322
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Fleet Size

Aircraft operated (March 2025)[34]

Thumb
United Airlines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of March 2025.
More information Rank, Airline ...
RankAirlineCountryNo.Ref.
1 United Airlines  United States 1009 [35]
2 American Airlines  United States 981 [36]
3 Delta Air Lines  United States 978 [37]
4 Air China  China 907 [citation needed]
5 Southwest Airlines  United States 797 [38]
6 China Southern Airlines  China 653 [citation needed]
7 China Eastern Airlines  China 652 [citation needed]
8 SkyWest Airlines  United States 624 [39]
9 Ryanair  Ireland 607 [citation needed]
10 Lufthansa  Germany 514 [citation needed]
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    Aircraft owned (January 2025)

    Thumb
    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.
    More information Rank, Holding company ...
    RankHolding companyNo.Value ($bn)
    1 United Airlines Holdings1,007 #70017.9 #14.0
    2 Delta Air Lines, Inc.987 #68215.8 #12.4
    3 Air China Group907 #35219.0 #11.6
    4 American Airlines Group854 #59516.7 #14.7
    5 Southwest Airlines830 #65016.8 #11.4
    6 Lufthansa Group721 #26811.7 #6.8
    7 China Southern Airlines663 #44717.3 #14.8
    8 China Eastern Airlines652 #50118.5 #14.4
    9 Ryanair Holdings607 #41715.3 #10.6
    10 Air France-KLM Group572 #22710.7 #7.8
    11 IAG570 #28410.4 #4.8
    12 SkyWest, Inc.520 #5114.5 #4.4
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    Network

    Countries served (August 2024)

    Thumb
    Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of February 2024.
    Main article: List of airlines by countries served
    More information Rank, Airline ...
    Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
    1 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 122 [40]
    2 Qatar Airways  Qatar 88 [41]
    3 Ethiopian Airlines  Ethiopia 86 [42]
    4 Air France  France 84 [43]
    5 Emirates  United Arab Emirates 80 [44]
    =6 British Airways  United Kingdom 76 [45]
    =6 Lufthansa  Germany 76 [46]
    8 United Airlines  United States 75 [47]
    9 KLM  Netherlands 64 [48]
    10 American Airlines  United States 61 [49]
    Close

    Passenger Destinations served (January 2025)[50]

    Main article: List of airlines with more than 100 destinations
    Thumb
    United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of February 2024.
    More information Rank, Airline ...
    Rank Airline Country No.
    1 United Airlines  United States 374
    2 American Airlines  United States 355
    3 Delta Air Lines  United States 311
    4 Turkish Airlines  Turkey 287
    5 Ryanair  Ireland 239
    6 China Southern Airlines  China 238
    7 China Eastern Airlines  China 224
    8 Lufthansa  Germany 216
    8 British Airways  United Kingdom 216
    10 Air France  France 197
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    Routes served (February 2024)

    Thumb
    Southwest Airlines serves the largest number of routes, as of February 2024.
    More information Rank, Airline ...
    Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
    1 Southwest Airlines  United States 3,161 [51]
    2 Ryanair  Ireland 2,631 [52]
    3 American Airlines  United States 1,237 [49]
    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
    Close

    Daily Flights (August 2024)[53]

    More information Rank, Airline ...
    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
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      See also

      References

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