The largest airlines in the world can be defined in several ways. As of 2023[update], Delta Air Lines is the largest by revenue, assets value, fleet size, and market capitalization; American Airlines Group by passengers carried, revenue passenger mile, number of employees and destinations served; FedEx Express by freight tonne-kilometers; Ryanair by number of routes; and Turkish Airlines by number of countries served.
By financial performance
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 29.2 billion USD, which would have had placed the company into 6th place. 2021's over 18 billion USD 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]
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