World’s Largest Airlines In 2019

When talking about the biggest airlines in the world, physical size is not the sole determining factor—it’s merely just a part of the equation. If you keep scrolling, you’ll be able to see the most massive of them all in a total of nine categories, which include the number of passengers carried, fleet size or the number of aircrafts of similar model being operated by a certain airline, revenue, number of routes taken, destinations reached and countries served, and a few more interesting classifications!

Largest By Revenue

1. American Airlines Group (United States) – US$ 43 B

2. Delta Air Lines (United States) – US$ 42.1 B

3. Lufthansa (Germany) US$ 41.5 B

4. United Airlines (United States) US$ 38.3 B

5. Air France–KLM (France/ Netherlands) US$ 29.1 B

6. IAG (Spain/ UK) US$ 26 B

7. Southwest Airlines (United States) US$ 21.2 B

8. China Southern Airlines (China) US$ 19.7 B

9. All Nippon Airways (Japan) US$ 17.8 B

10. China Eastern Airlines (China) US$ 15.7 B

Largest by Passengers Carried

1. American Airlines Group (United States) – 199.6 M

2. Delta Air Lines (United States) – 186.4 M

3. Southwest Airlines (United States) – 157.8 M

4. United Airlines (United States) – 148.1 M

5. Ryanair (Ireland) – 130.3 M

6. Lufthansa Group (Germany) – 130 M

7. China Southern Airlines (China) – 126.3 M

8. China Eastern Airlines (China) – 110.8 M  

9. IAG (Spain/ UK) – 104.8 M                                                             

10. Air China Group (China) – 101.6 M

Largest By Scheduled Passenger-Kilometers Flown

Airline Holdings Group

1. American Airlines Group (United States) – 364,191 M

2. Delta Air Lines (United States) – 350,299 M

3. United Airlines Holdings (United States) – 347,963 M

4. The Emirates Group (United Arab Emirates) – 292,221 M

5. Lufthansa Group (Germany) – 261,156 M

6. International Airlines Group (Spain/UK) – 252,819 M

7. Air France–KLM (France/ Netherlands) – 248,476 M

8. China Southern Airlines (China) – 230,697 M

9. Southwest Airlines (United States) – 207,802 M

10. Air China (China) – 201,090 M

Individual Airlines

1. American Airlines (United States) – 330,577 M

2. Delta Air Lines (United States) – 330,034 M

3. United Airlines (United States) – 329,562 M

4. Emirates (United Arab Emirates) – 302,298 M

5. Southwest Airlines (United States) – 214,561 M

6. China Southern Airlines (China) – 200,239 M

7. Ryanair (Ireland) – 170,900 M                                

8. China Eastern Airlines (China) – 166,282 M                                              

9. Air China (China) – 161,199 M                                                         –

10. Lufthansa (Germany) / British Airways (United Kingdom) – 158,986 M

Largest By Scheduled Freight Ton-Kilometers

1. FedEx Express (United States) – 17,499 M

2. Emirates SkyCargo (United Arab Emirates) – 12,713 M

3. Qatar Airways Cargo (Qatar) – 12,695 M

4. UPS Airlines (United States) – 12,459 M

5. Cathay Pacific Cargo (Hong Kong) – 11,284 M

6. Korean Air Cargo (South Korea) – 7,839 M

7. Lufthansa Cargo (Germany) – 7,394 M

8. Cargolux (Luxembourg) – 7,322 M

9. Air China Cargo (China) – 7,051 M

10. China Southern Airlines (China) / Singapore Airlines Cargo (Singapore ) – 6,597 M

Largest By Fleet Size

1. American Airlines (United States) – 950

2. Delta Air Lines (United States) – 850

3. United Airlines (United States) – 745

4. Southwest Airlines (United States) – 697

5. China Southern Airlines (China) – 545

6. China Eastern Airlines (China) – 486

7. Ryanair (Ireland) – 413

8. Air China (China) – 392

9. FedEx Express (United States) – 371

10. Turkish Airlines (Turkey) – 329

Largest By Number Of Countries Served

1. Turkish Airlines (Turkey) – 121

2. Air France (France) – 91

3. British Airways (United Kingdom) – 82

4. Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopia) – 81

5. Emirates (United Arab Emirates) – 78

6. Qatar Airways (Qatar) – 78

7. Lufthansa (Germany) – 75

8. KLM (Netherlands) – 67

9. American Airlines (United States) / United Airlines (United States) – 62

10. Aeroflot (Russia) – 58

Largest By Number Of Routes

1. Ryanair (Ireland) – 1,831

2. American Airlines (United States) – 1,106

3. United Airlines (United States) – 950

4. easyJet (United Kingdom) – 945

5. Delta Air Lines (United States) – 939

6. Southwest Airlines (United States) – 754

7. China Southern (China) – 667

7. China Eastern (China) – 648

8. Wizz Air (Hungary) – 615

9. Air China (China) – 470

10. TUI Airways (United Kingdom) – 470

Largest By Number Of Destinations

1. UPS Airlines (United States) – 727

2. FedEx Express (United States) – 375

3. United Airlines (United States) – 373

4. American Airlines (United States) – 350

5. Delta Air Lines (United States) – 320

6. Turkish Airlines (Turkey) – 302

7. Lufthansa (Germany) – 274

8. China Eastern Airlines (China) – 217

9. Air France (France) – 204

10. Air China (China) – 201

Largest By Brand Value

1. American Airlines (United States) – US$ 9.094 B

2. Delta Air Lines (United States) – US$ 8.712 B

3. United Airlines (United States) – US$ 7.027 B

4. Emirates Airlines (United Arab Emirates) – US$ 5.336 B

5. Southwest Airlines (United States) – US$ 5.298 B

6. China Southern Airlines (China) – US$ 4.063 B

7. China Eastern Airlines (China) – US$ 3.81 B

8. British Airways (United Kingdom) – US$ 3.484 B

9. Air China (China) – US$ 3.433 B

10. Lufthansa (Germany) – US$ 2.914 B