World’s Largest Airlines In 2019

Posted on September 3, 2019 by The Travel Wolf

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