List of the largest airlines in the world

There are several calculation methods used to determine the largest airline in the world . Therefore, depending on the basis of the key figures, different airlines can claim this title for themselves in the individual categories. In general, however, it can be said that the top ranks in all categories are occupied by US airlines.

Delta Air Lines , for example, carried more passengers in 2012 than any other airline in the world by sheer number and had the largest number of passenger aircraft in its own fleet. United Airlines, on the other hand, carried fewer passengers overall than Delta in 2012, but counted more passengers according to passenger kilometers (kilometers traveled by paying passengers), the most important key figure in the aviation industry , and flew to more destinations than Delta worldwide. With its merger with US Airways at the end of 2013, American Airlines was considered the world's largest airline in terms of passengers carried and fleet size, but did not overtake United in terms of passenger kilometers until 2014. In 2015 United was also overtaken by Delta Air Lines in terms of passenger kilometers. If one only considers the respective international route network of the airlines (without the domestic route networks important for the American airlines, for example), Emirates ranks first in this category in terms of passenger kilometers . FedEx is the largest cargo airline in the world, both in terms of annual transported tonne-kilometers and the size of the fleet. The Lufthansa ( Lufthansa Group with Lufthansa Cargo ) is in all the following categories each a place in the top ten . The German DHL is the second largest cargo airline in the world after its fleet size.

According to passengers carried (in millions)

Delta Air Lines Boeing 747-400

rank	airline	Passenger numbers with feeder flights 5 4 2 1 / subsidiary airlines 4 5 for 2017	2019	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	Ref.
1	Southwest Airlines 3	unchanged	163.6	157.677	152.0	144.6	129.1		134.0	127.6	106.2	101.3
2	Delta Air Lines 1		152.2	145.931	183.7	179.4	129.4		164.6	163.8	162.6	161.1
3	American Airlines 4	199.6	148.2	144.863	144.191	146.530	197.3		107.8	107.2	105.2	104.5
4th	Ryanair	unchanged	136.7	128.907	117.0	101.4	86.4	81.4	79.3	75.8	72.1	66.5
5	United Airlines 2	148.0	113.2	107.263	143.0	140.4	138.0		140.4	141.8	145.6	144.3
6th	China Southern Airlines		104.0	92.0	109.4	105.3	100.7	91.5	86.5	80.7	76.5	66.3
7th	China Eastern Airlines		95.6	87.657	80.509	75.139	66.2	62.65	73.1	68.7	64.9	44.0
8th	EasyJet	Subsidiary airlines : EasyJet Switzerland and EasyJet europe (approx. 82 million passengers flew with the Easy Group airlines )	88.1	77,307	70.747	70.232
9	LATAM Airlines Group	the number of passengers results from the two combined airlines LATAM Airlines and LATAM Airlines Brasil		67.006	66.814
10	Turkish Airlines		73.2	66,401	61.737	60.198
11	Air China		71.0	66.045	62,308	58.661
12	Lufthansa 5	130.0		60.526	57.091	58.173
13	Emirates			58.054	55.198	51.039
14th	ANA			49.356	47.325	46.630
15th	Indigo			47.868	39.768	33.775
16	Air France	Member of the Air France KLM Group (over 99 million passengers)		46.034	44,308	45.928
17th	British Airways	Member of the IAG (over 100 million passengers)		44.930	44.098	42,940
18th	JetBlue			40.045	38.275	35.116
19th	Hainan Airlines			36,522	46,601	37.960
20th	SkyWest Airlines	Feeder flights for United Airlines, Delta Airlines and American Airlines		35.776
21st	Lion Air			35.736	32,409	34,513
22nd	Japan Airlines			33.868	32.749	32.017
23	Norwegian	Subsidiary airline Norwegian Air UK		33.113
24	Aeroflot			32.833
25th	KLM	Member of the Air France KLM Group (over 99 million passengers)		32.689

Remarks

• Based on the figures published by the respective airline
• ¹ Includes numbers forDelta Connection- numbers from or after 2009 for themergedDelta /Northwest Airlines
• ² Includes figures forUnited Express- figures from or after 2010 for the mergedUnited / Continental Airlines; United Express results for 2017 are not taken into account as these are carried out by external regionalairlines. (see code sharing)
• ³ numbers from or after 2011 for the merged Southwest /AirTran Airways
• ⁴ Includes figures forAmerican Eagle Airlines,Executive Airlinesand AmericanConnection for the period from 2009 to 2014; for 2017, the results of American Eagle Airlines are not taken into account as these are operated by external regional airlines. (see code sharing)
• ⁵ Includes figures forLufthansa Regional,Swiss,Austrian AirlinesandEurowings- figures from 2010 includeGermanwings, figures from 2017 only include the results of the parent company Lufthansa

According to passenger kilometers (in billions)

Emirates Airbus A380

rank	airline	2018	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	Ref.
1	American Airlines 3	330.6		358.9	314.9		219.869	219,492	216.132	209,321
2	Delta Air Lines 2			337.3	291.6		310.562	310.228	310.875	304.074
3	United Airlines 1			335.7	288.0		330.696	334,989	338,833	327,479
4th	Emirates	292,221	276.61	255.18			160,446	146.134	126.273	101.762
5	Lufthansa 5	284,561		145.9			149.780	141.055	129.668	122.991
6th	Southwest Airlines 4	214.5			173.8		165.561	157.044	125,604	119.826
7th	Air France			139.22			137.606	135.129	127.763	128.326
8th	China Southern Airlines						135.535	122.344	111,328	93.002
9	Air China						129.773	123.489	105.695	75.474
10	British Airways						126.436	117.348	106.082	114,346

Remarks

• Based on the figures published by the respective airline.
• ¹ Includes numbers forUnited Express- numbers from or after 2010 for the merged United /Continental Airlines.
• ² Includes numbers forDelta Connection- numbers from or after 2009 for the merged Delta /Northwest Airlines.
• ³ Includes numbers forAmerican Eagle Airlines,Executive Airlines,and American Connection.
• ⁴ Figures from or after 2011 for the merged Southwest /AirTran Airways.
• ⁵ Includes figures forLufthansa Regional- figures from 2018 include the entire Group - figures from 2012 includeGermanwings- figures from 2009 and 2010 includeLufthansa Italia.

According to the freight tons carried

rank	airline	2017	2016	2015	Ref.
1	Federal Express	7,355	7.145	7,087
2	UPS	4,912	4,681	4,482
3	Emirates	2,646	2,538	2,454
4th	Qatar Airways	2,038	1,764	1,466
5	Cathay Pacific	1,744	1,597	1,558
6th	Korean Air	1,624	1,514	1,533
7th	China Airlines	1,462	1,326	1.306
8th	Air China	1,430	1,331	1,256
9	ANA	1,363	1,263	1,165
10	China Southern Airlines	1,334	1,519	1,389
11	Atlas Air	1,179
12	Singapore Airlines	1,169	1,139	1,084
13	Turkish Airlines	1,085	875	634
14th	Lufthansa	996	958	950
15th	Polar Air Cargo	963	703	685
16	Asiana	961	922	856
17th	Etihad Airways	891	929	904
18th	Cargolux	864	809	757
19th	LATAM Airlines Group	780	799	-
20th	Kalitta Air	747
21st	Japan Airlines	730	660	659
22nd	China Eastern Airlines	704	1,197	1,255
23	AirBridgeCargo	701	621	615
24	British Airways	644	612	606
25th	EVA Air	642	610	621

According to ton kilometers (in millions)

FedEx McDonnell Douglas MD-11F

rank	airline	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
1	FedEx Express	15.799	16.020	16.127	16.108	15.939
2	Emirates SkyCargo	12.157	11.240	10.459	9.319	8.132
3	UPS Airlines	10.807	10.936	10,584	10,416	10,566
4th	Cathay Pacific Cargo	9,935	9.464	8.241	8.433	9.109
5	Korean Air Cargo	7.761	8.079	7.666	8.144	8,974
6th	Qatar Airways Cargo	7.660	5,997	4,972
7th	Lufthansa Cargo	6.888	7,054	7.218	7.175	7.674
8th	Cargolux	6.309	5.753	5.225
9	Singapore Airlines Cargo	6.083	6,019	6.240	6.694	7.118
10	Air China Cargo	5.718
	China Airlines Cargo		5.266	4,813	4,538	5.411

According to fleet size

Passenger airlines

American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER

rank	airline	Fleet size	Ref.
1	American Airlines 3	961
2	Delta Air Lines 1	808
3	Lufthansa Group 6	763
4th	United Airlines 2	711
5	Southwest Airlines 4	679
6th	US Airways 5	621
7th	China Southern Airlines	540
8th	China Eastern Airlines	415
9	Ryanair	412
10	Air Canada 7	355

Remarks

• Contains only passenger aircraft - Contains figures for the regional companies of the airlines, partly including subsidiaries:
• ¹ Includes numbers forDelta Air Lines.
• ² IncludesUnited Expressnumbers.
• ³ Includes numbers forAmerican Eagle Airlines.
• ⁴ Includes numbers forAirTran Airways.
• ⁵ Includes numbers forUS Airways Express.
• ⁶ Includes figures forAir Dolomiti,Austrian Airlines,Edelweiss Air,Eurowings(incl.- Europe),Germanwings,Lufthansa, -CityLine, -Cargo,Swiss, -Global Air Lines

• ⁷ Includes numbers forAir CanadaExpress.

Cargo airlines

rank	airline	Fleet size	Ref.
1	FedEx Express	657
2	UPS Airlines	255
3	DHL Aviation	250
4th	TNT Airways	033
5	Korean Air Cargo	026th
6th	Cargolux	026th
7th	Cathay Pacific Cargo	023
8th	China Airlines Cargo	021st
9	Lufthansa Cargo	019th
10	China Postal Airlines	019th

By number of destinations

United Airlines Boeing 787

rank	airline	Destinations	Ref.
1	United Airlines 1	373
2	Delta Air Lines 2	330
3	Turkish Airlines	302
4th	American Airlines 3	277
5	Lufthansa 5	235
6th	China Eastern Airlines 4	211
7th	Air France 6	194
8th	US Airways 7	193
9	China Southern Airlines	193
10	British Airways 8	191

Remarks

• Only includes passenger airlines.
• ¹ IncludesUnited Expressnumbers.
• ² Includes numbers forDelta Connection.
• ³ Includes numbers forAmerican Eagle Airlinesand AmericanConnection.
• ⁴ Includes numbers forShanghai Airlines.
• ⁵ Includes figures for the entireLufthansagroup.
• ⁶ Includes numbers forHop! andCityJet.
• ⁷ Includes numbers forUS Airways Express.
• ⁸ Includes numbers forBA CityFlyer,OpenSkies,Sun Air of ScandinaviaandComair South Africa.

See also

• List of airlines
• List of former airlines

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Airline merger may be plus for area airports , news-gazette.com, December 8, 2013.
2. ↑ The largest airlines in the world are two European low-cost airlines. Travelbook.de, July 26, 2019.
3. ↑ Delta Surpasses United for No. 2 Airline Spot by Traffic , wsj.com, January 12, 2016
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z} Brigitte Rothfischer: Top 25 Airlines 2017 . Ed .: Dietmar Plath. No. 08/2018 . YEAR TOP SPECIAL VERLAG, Hamburg.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} Brigitte Rothfischer: Top 25 Airlines 2016 . Ed .: Dietmar Plath. No. 08/2017 . YEAR TOP SPECIAL VERLAG, Hamburg.
6. ^ Delta Reports Financial and Operating Performance for December 2012 . news.delta.com. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
7. ^ Delta Air Lines Reports December Traffic . news.delta.com. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
8. ^ Southwest Airlines Co. - 2012 Annual Report . Southwest Airlines. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 12, 2013. 
9. ↑ United Continental Holdings, Inc. - Investor Relations - Quarterly Results . United Continental Holdings. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
10. ↑ Lufthansa Group - Ten year overview 2013 . Lufthansa Group. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 5, 2016. 
11. ↑ Lufthansa Group - Annual Report and Annual Results 2015 . Lufthansa Group. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 5, 2016. 
12. ↑ With 130 million passengers, the airlines in the Lufthansa Group reached an all-time high in 2017 . In: Lufthansa Group | Newsroom . January 10, 2018 ( lufthansagroup.com [accessed January 16, 2018]).
13. ↑ About Us . ryanair.com. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
14. ↑ Ryanair - passenger numbers up to 2017 | Statistics. Retrieved January 16, 2018 . 
15. ^ China Southern Airlines - Performance Reports - Investor Relations . csair.com. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
16. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Astrid Röben: Top 25 Airlines 2015 . Ed .: Dietmar Plath. No. 08/2016 . YEAR TOP SPECIAL VERLAG, Hamburg.
17. ^ China Eastern Airlines - Investor Relations . ceair.com. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
18. ^ Air China - Financial Information . airchina.com. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
19. ↑ Delta Air Lines traffic passed United in '15 to become second-largest US carrier , upi.com, January 12, 2016.
20. ↑ Newsroom - American Airlines Group Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2018 Profit - American Airlines Group, Inc. In: news.aa.com. Retrieved February 7, 2019 . 
21. ^ American Airlines, Inc. - Form-10K - 2012 . sec.gov. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
22. ^ Delta Air Lines, Inc. - Form-10K - 2012 . sec.gov. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
23. ↑ United Continental Holdings, Inc. - Investor Relations - Quarterly Results . United Continental Holdings. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
24. ↑ ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18. In: cdn.ek.aero. Retrieved February 7, 2019 . 
25. ^ The Emirates Group - Annual Report 2012/13 . theemiratesgroup.com. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
26. ↑ THE EMIRATES GROUP ANNUAL REPORT ǀ 2016-17. Retrieved September 1, 2017 . 
27. ↑ Investor Info December 2018. In: investor-relations.lufthansagroup.com. Retrieved February 7, 2019 . 
28. ↑ Lufthansa Group - Traffic Figures . Lufthansa Group. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 25, 2013. 
29. ↑ Lufthansa Group - Archive . Lufthansa Group. Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 25, 2013. 
30. ^ Southwest Airlines Reports December Traffic - Southwest Airlines. In: investors.southwest.com. Retrieved February 7, 2019 . 
31. ^ Southwest Airlines, Inc. - Form 10K - 2011 . sec.gov. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
32. ^ Air France-KLM Results - Financial Information . airfranceklm-finance.com. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
33. ↑ KLM Annual reports . klm.com. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
34. ^ China Southern Airlines - Investor Relations - Performance Report . csair.com. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
35. ^ Air China - Financial Information . Retrieved October 16, 2013
36. ^ IAG International Airlines Group - Annual Reports . iairgroup.com. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
37. ↑ Summary of passenger and freight traffic . In: World Air Transport Statistics . IATA . 2016. Archived from the original on July 5, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 7, 2017. 
38. ↑ Scheduled Freight Ton - Kilometres . In: World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition . IATA . Archived from the original on July 4, 2015.
39. ↑ Scheduled Freight Ton - Kilometres . In: World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition . IATA . Archived from the original on November 25, 2014.
40. ↑ Scheduled Freight Ton - Kilometres . In: World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition . IATA . Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
41. ↑ Scheduled Freight Ton - Kilometres . In: World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition . IATA . Archived from the original on December 15, 2012.
42. ↑ American Airlines, Inc. - Form 10-Q - Quarterly Report . American Airlines. September 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
43. ^ Delta Air Lines Inc. - Form 10-Q - Quarterly Report . Delta Air Lines. September 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
44. ↑ Lufthansa Group - 3rd Interim Report - September 2013 . investor-relations.lufthansagroup.com. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
45. ↑ United Airlines Fact Sheet . unitedcontinentalholdings.com. July 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
46. ^ Southwest Airlines Co - LUV Form 10-Q - Quarterly Report . Southwest Airlines. September 2013. Archived from the original on November 1st, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 31, 2013. 
47. ↑ US Airways Systems Factsheet . usairways.com. October 2013. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
48. ↑ SkyTeam Facts & Figures - June 2013 . SkyTeam. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
49. ↑ China Eastern Airlines Fleet . ch-aviation.ch. December 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
50. ↑ Air Canada - Our Fleet . aircanada.com. December 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
51. ↑ AirFrance-KLM Quarterly Report . airfranceklm-finance.com. September 2013. Accessed October 31, 2013.
52. ↑ Corporate Fact Sheet - About FedEx. In: About FedEx. Retrieved April 17, 2016 (American English). 
53. ↑ UPS Fact Sheet . pressroom.ups.com. November 15, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
54. ↑ DHL to upgrade its European express air fleet with 13 new planes . dhl.com. December 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
55. ↑ TNT Express - Q3 Quarterly Report . tnt.com. September 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
56. ↑ Korean Air - 3Q 2013 Financial Results . koreanair.com. September 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
57. ↑ Cargolux fleet . ch-aviation.ch. November 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
58. ↑ Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. - 2013 Interim Report . quote.morningstar.com. June 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
59. ↑ China Airlines Fleet . china-airlines.com. October 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 9, 2013. 
60. ↑ Lufthansa Group - 3rd Interim Report - September 2013 . investor-relations.lufthansagroup.com. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
61. ↑ China Postal Airlines - Fleet . ch-aviation.ch. December 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
62. ↑ United Airlines Fact Sheet . unitedcontinentalholdings.com. July 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
63. ↑ Delta Air Lines Newsroom - Stats & Facts . news.delta.com. July 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
64. ↑ Turkish Airlines launches flights to Samarkand . In: DailySabah . ( dailysabah.com [accessed March 17, 2018]).
65. ^ Oneworld Network and Operations . Oneworld. October 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
66. ↑ More destinations in winter timetable 2013/14 . Lufthansa Group. October 11, 2013. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 14, 2013. 
67. ↑ SkyTeam Facts & Figures - June 2013 . SkyTeam. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
68. ↑ SkyTeam Facts & Figures - June 2013 . SkyTeam. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
69. ↑ US Airways Systems Factsheet . usairways.com. October 2013. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
70. ↑ SkyTeam Facts & Figures - June 2013 . SkyTeam. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
71. ^ Oneworld Network and Operations . Oneworld. October 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.