The largest airlines in the world can be measured in several ways. , Me was the largest by revenue, assets, market capitalization, fleet size 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

Revenue

Note that Emirates is a state-owned company, and is thus not included in this list of public companies. Its revenue was estimated to be around US$37.4 billion in 2024, which would have had placed the company into 5th place. Previous estimations of over US$29.2 billion and 6th place in 2023, over US$18 billion and 5th place in 2021. Qatar Airways Group is similarly privately held with its 2024 revenue of around 22.2 billion USD placing it into 10th place (with Emirates included) above Turkish Airlines. Previously nearly 21 billion USD and 9th place in 2023.

Brand value

By flight volume

Passengers carried

Scheduled passenger-kilometers flown (billions)

Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions)

By fleet size

Aircraft operated

Aircraft owned

Aircraft capacity (million scheduled seats)

By route network

Countries served

Passenger destinations served

Routes served

Number of daily flights