The largest airlines in the world can be defined in several ways. As of 2023[update], Delta Air Lines was the largest by revenue, assets, fleet size, market capitalization and brand value; American Airlines Group by passengers carried and employees; FedEx Express by freight tonne-kilometers; Southwest Airlines by routes; and Turkish Airlines by countries served.
According to Forbes in 2023, Delta Air Lines had the highest revenue among public airlines, followed by American Airlines Group and United Airlines Holdings. Emirates and Qatar Airways, being state-owned and privately held respectively, are not included in this list. Brand Finance, in 2024, ranks Delta Air Lines as the most valuable airline brand, followed by American Airlines and United Airlines. Emirates and Qatar Airways also feature prominently in terms of brand value.
American Airlines Group carried the most passengers in 2022, followed by Delta Air Lines and Ryanair. United Airlines, Lufthansa, and Southwest Airlines also rank highly in passenger numbers, highlighting the dominance of US and European carriers in flight volume.
By financial performance
Delta Air Lines ranks first by revenue, total assets, market capitalization and brand value.American Airlines Group ranks first by number of employees and passengers carried.
Revenue
Forbes' world's biggest public airline companies by revenue (as of January 2023)[1]
Note that Emirates is a state-owned company, and is thus not included in this list of public companies. Its 2023 revenue was estimated over US$29.2 billion, which would have had placed the company into 6th place. 2021's over US$18 billion and 5th place. Its 2014-2015 revenue was DH 88.819 billion (US$24.2 billion), profit DH 4.555 billion (US$1.24 billion), and assets DH 111.362 billion (US$30.34 billion), with 56,725 employees. Qatar Airways Group is similarly privately held with 2023 revenue of nearly 21 billions USD placing it into the 9th place (with Emirates included) above the Turkish Airlines.
Brand value
Largest airlines by brand value (US$ billions) according to Brand Finance (2024)[2]
^"Global Air Traffic & Top Airlines 2016 (IATA)". IMM International. 28 June 2016.
^"Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015.
^"Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015.
^"Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013.
^"Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 17, 2012.
^ ab"Cirium Airline Passenger Rankings for 2021". September 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
^"Airline top 100 2022". Airfinance Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
^"Airlines, Airports and Airliners 2020 full year results" (PDF). France Aviation Civile Services. April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
^"Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2016)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
^"Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2015)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
^"Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2013)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
^ ab"World Air Transport Statistics 2021" (PDF). 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
^ ab"World Air Transport Statistics" (PDF). IATA. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-29.
^ ab"62nd World Air Transport Statistics" (png). IATA. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ ab"Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2017.[permanent dead link]
^ ab"Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
^"Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015.
^"Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014.
^"Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
^"Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012.
^"Top 25 Cargo Airlines 2022". Air Cargo News. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.