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World's Biggest Airlines

What are the world's largest airlines by number of daily departures?
Data from week of 22 December, 2025. Source: FlightsFrom.com.
Color-coded by continent
Some of these may have the same corporate parent
Quiz by
Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 8, 2026
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First submittedFebruary 20, 2012
Times taken123,751
Average score38.5%
Rating4.44
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Flights
Airline
5,557
American Airlines
4,299
United Airlines
3,401
Delta Air Lines
2,792
Southwest Airlines
2,242
Ryanair
2,219
IndiGo
2,093
China Eastern Airlines
1,996
China Southern Airlines
1,502
Air China
1,220
ANA
1,133
easyJet
1,099
LATAM Airlines
989
Alaska Airlines
Flights
Airline
934
Air Canada
855
JAL
854
Turkish Airlines
838
JetBlue Airways
730
AVIANCA
715
Hainan Airlines
672
Air India
650
Qantas
650
Shenzhen Airlines
617
Air France
607
Xiamen Airlines
600
KLM
589
Azul
Flights
Airline
588
Frontier Airlines
574
Aeroflot
557
AirAsia
543
British Airways
537
Lufthansa
535
Shandong Airlines
529
Sichuan Airlines
511
Iberia
505
Spring Airlines
494
Qatar Airways
491
Vueling
490
Spirit Airlines
489
Emirates
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67 Comments
Quizmaster
+5
Level ∞
Jan 8, 2026
Finally updated after several years. I'd prefer to use passenger kilometers as the metric, but that data doesn't exist or is paywalled.

But I found this source which uses daily flights and is regularly updated.

theLAYTshow
+7
Level 41
Feb 20, 2012
Great experience on Air Canada, bad experience on British Airways...not fun
kalbahamut
+10
Level 79
Aug 10, 2014
Though I would never accuse British Airways of being anything like "fun," stereotypes definitely apply, I've had mostly positive experiences with the airline and Heathrow/London isn't a terrible place to have a layover.
relessness
+3
Level 46
Aug 10, 2014
T5 is a great place to transfer at
kalbahamut
+2
Level 79
Aug 10, 2014
best airlines to fly with IMO in my somewhat limited experience include Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Korean Air.... and maybe British Airways at the bottom of that list. Qatar is okay but very overrated imho. I also use Cebu Pacific and Southwest a lot, they're fine and their prices make up for whatever they lack in amenities. Plus Cebu has access to the best terminal in Manila. but I wouldn't use them for a very long flight. Worst is probably a tie between Philippine Airlines, Ethiopian, and Nas.
englishsystem
+2
Level 67
Nov 25, 2014
Singapore, Korean, and Air Canada are all great! United has become a joke and Varig (not listed, Brazil) is the worst airline I've ever flown.
grantdon
+3
Level 74
Jan 8, 2016
I'd have Singapore, Cathay, Emirates and Etihad at the top; Qantas, KLM, Lufthansa, Finnair, Virgin a half star rating less, and unfortunately BA and United not much better than the "budget" carriers
Malbaby
+4
Level 70
Jun 19, 2016
Best to fly with ......around the world are Qantas followed by British Airways then Cathay Pacific and Singapore ..... In USA Delta.
sillie
+2
Level 75
Jul 11, 2018
The most fun stuert I ever had was a British Airways one over 20 years ago. He made the safety briefing more interesting than the usual snooze and he gave us (two 16-yr olds) mini bottles of Johnny Walker.
ander217
+3
Level 74
Oct 1, 2018
Kal, I hope your were joking when you called your experiences "somewhat limited". I've flown American, United, and Northwest. That is truly limited. I had no problems on any of those except for my infernal air sickness and I don't think I can blame that on the airlines.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Aug 3, 2019
ander: while I know my travels are much more extensive than the average person's... there are still quite a few airlines in the world I have never used before or used only once or twice. I don't want to presume to know based on this what the best airlines are.
RJF
+1
Level 67
Jan 12, 2023
I think Swiss deserves a mention in the list of truly great airlines. Haven't flown on too many airlines, and none outside Europe yet (apart from two short flights on South African Airlink), but Swiss is éásily the best airline I've flown on. KLM can be decent too, but it varies. Staff tends to be very nice though.
theblackwidow
+2
Level 74
Feb 9, 2024
I once flew Swissair just before Christmas and every passenger got free champagne. It was great.
laura80
+7
Level 83
May 29, 2017
You're not Canadian, are you?

I don't know if I've ever heard a Canadian describe a "Great Experience" on Air Canada. We all avoid it like the plague and take West Jet or Porter instead.

HugoBoss
+8
Level 19
Sep 14, 2017
I'm Canadian, and I think Air Canada is great...
mrputter
+1
Level 89
Jan 9, 2026
....speak for yourself?

I'm in Calgary, the home of WestJet, so most of the flights out of here involve WS, and I hate it. Can't stand WestJet and will do (almost) anything to avoid the airline.

I'll fly Air Canada any day of the week. I've had the occasional "great experience" on AC, and it's always been at least decent, if not actually good.

My experiences on WestJet on the other hand... have often been terrible.

paula05
+1
Level 34
Dec 25, 2012
12.
DonTheLamplighter
+1
Level 87
Oct 5, 2016
Same here. :-(
Baltimorean
+3
Level 66
Aug 10, 2014
Southern China ≠ China Southern. Too bad.
tf2014fifa1028
+1
Level 20
Aug 25, 2014
22!!! Yes!! I haven't really had international experience so I cant speak for much but I think my favorite would have to be southwest.
SpankyMcFabulous
+12
Level 44
Aug 27, 2014
Surprised Singapore Airlines isn't in there...I really thought they were huge.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 79
Aug 23, 2016
Great airline and hands down the best airport in the world. They should have more traffic than they do.
Philippelebel
+4
Level 79
Jan 16, 2026
It's by number of daily flights. They do a lot of long haul... and very few domestic hops obviously!
Ponderosa
+4
Level 89
Feb 11, 2015
Can't believe I forgot Southwest. That's like my only airline.
theperiodictable
+2
Level 46
Jan 16, 2016
British airways qantas and turkish airlines are probably the best airlines anyway if they get u there safely u should like them they could crash.dont complain the plane ride isn't a vacation it is how u get there. it shouldn't effect ur trip! all plane food may be bad but at least you get food! some people would give anything for food. airlines never get praise and they do a vital job that keeps you safe maybe instead of complaining we should thank them or write them a note like i do instead of complaining!! they really appreciate it!!
Findlay
+2
Level 80
Jul 20, 2016
Cathay, Qantas, Emirates and Singapore have probably been my personal best experiences, although I'm not one of these people to endlessly whinge about airlines. I've flown Ryanair and AirAsia and they got me where I was going just fine. Recently flew LAN (LATAM) for the first time on the marathon Sydney-Santiago route and once we got off the tarmac after a two hour wait (during which I had plenty of Game of Thrones to catch up on), that went just fine too. Hell, I even give points to Lao Airlines (they got me to Hanoi without killing me, so that's a plus).
kalbahamut
+5
Level 79
Aug 23, 2016
RyanAir are just downright duplicitous, inventing new ways to try and steal money from their passengers all the time.
AlfieJMD
+3
Level 39
Aug 23, 2016
Every Ryanair flight is a disaster, the 'low fare' airline comes with thousands of ways to rip you off with extra things they make you purchase. British airways has always been good for me and Heathrow T5 is a great airport.
kalbahamut
+7
Level 79
Aug 23, 2016
Some things for low-cost airlines I can understand. Not providing free meals or entertainment, okay, that's fine. That shouldn't necessarily be mandatory. Charging a modest fee for checked bags, that's reasonable if the ticket themselves are so much cheaper. But, one especially heinous and evil and obviously underhanded thing they are doing lately is they *require* that you check in online and print out boarding passes prior to arrival at the airport. *and* you must do it hours before. Since no other airline requires such an asinine thing, of course many people are caught off guard by this, and are forced to pay the 45 pound penalty at the airport (often on tickets that cost 20 or 30 pounds) or miss their flight. It's downright theft.
sillie
+7
Level 75
Jul 11, 2018
Why would you even print out boarding passes anymore? An electronic image should be enough. Even two years ago when you made your comment.
Djilas
+1
Level 86
Jul 18, 2018
In Europe it's quite far from "no other airline".
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Sep 30, 2018
^ they might be following the asinine standard set by RyanAir, then. I never had anyone else tell me that I HAD to have a printed ticket... not since I was flying through Taiwan over 10 years ago... and then that online check-in closed FOUR HOURS before the flight. Why? WHY?? Did the computer go on break? Does it take 3 hours for the electronic message moving at the speed of light from their server to get to the check-in counter? Bandits.
xarnac
+1
Level 71
Oct 2, 2018
I remember when Ryanair tried charging a pound to use the toilet
hwes
+1
Level 89
Feb 28, 2020
My daughter was charged 20 pounds for not having printed her own boarding pass. Since North American airlines don't require it, she was quite surprised. The clerk admitted that it was a rip off and generally affected North American tourists. Baltic air also required a self check and printed pass but the clerk in Gdansk did it for me 30 min before the flight -- he though the requirement was ridiculous. European discount airlines continually invent new surcharges and sometimes a national airline like KLM is a better idea.
GalwayAnto
+2
Level 43
Oct 10, 2021
Ryanair never tried to charge a fee for using the toilets. The boss, Michael O'Leary suggested it as a joke and a publicity stunt.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Nov 14, 2022
^ the same jovial chap who called people who fly his airline idiots and his mistreated employees whiners.
ct
+2
Level 66
Aug 23, 2016
Turkish Airlines's main base/hub is in Europe, not in Asia.
MyMindWentBlank
+1
Level 60
Oct 20, 2016
How does Alaska have more passengers than Frontier? Frontier seems pretty big...
AkJMB
+1
Level 70
Jan 19, 2026
Because Alaskans have to fly to get out of the state or else drive 3-5 days through Canada or take a multi-day ferry trip to get to the rest of the Pacific Northwest! And also the airline flies a lot of routes along the heavily populated West Coast.
Gassu
+1
Level 69
May 21, 2017
I guess United will lose its 4th place in the future :D
naughtynick
+6
Level 33
Sep 17, 2017
Ryanair are the worst i have ever flown with. Best budget airline in europe is Easyjet. Best overall is British Airways i boarded sober , got off drunk and iot never cost me a penny in drinks, they were all free and i flew peasant class.
Gassu
+2
Level 69
Sep 15, 2018
EasyJet is great for people with small money and small bags. If you don‘t want to eat something, you don‘t have to! Great airline!
Lomeo
+1
Level 49
Nov 14, 2022
British is clearly below Lufthansa and Air France tho.
anurzynski
+1
Level 45
Oct 10, 2017
has this been updated for 2017?
NSP
+2
Level 35
Nov 1, 2017
Flying with Emirates for almost 20 years....simply awesome. And with 100 A380s....they are simply awesome.
WolfCam
+1
Level 67
Nov 1, 2017
Personally I'm a fan of Swiss Air!
Gassu
+1
Level 69
Sep 15, 2018
Hahahahaha that airline doesn‘t even exist since 2002! You must mean SWISS, otherwise you don‘t fly very often
kalbahamut
+2
Level 79
Mar 17, 2018
Funny how many more people got Japan Airlines than ANA, which I think shows that most people are just typing in the names of countries and hoping for the best.
Freestatebear
+1
Level 88
Jul 11, 2018
JAL (and KAL) used to advertise a lot in the US - particularly travel related publications.
Gassu
+2
Level 69
Sep 15, 2018
Tbh, I knew that some airline is called Nippon, just entered Nippon Airways, that one should be accepted
GorillaPie
+5
Level 44
Jun 20, 2018
Surprised not to see Singapore in there. So many of their planes pass over London en route to/from Heathrow. Also the best customer service of any airline I've ever flown with - and Changi airport is just fantastic!
Fresco3
+1
Level 70
Jul 11, 2018
Would be nice if some of the answers we're the full airline even if the type-ins remain the same. For instance, Delta should be Delta Air Lines, United = United Airlines, LATAM = LATAM Airlines, All Nippon = All Nippon Airways, Alaska = Alaska Airlines, Turkish = Turkish Airlines, Southwest = Southwest Airlines, China Southern = China Southern Airlines

Just for consistencies sake :)

sacheth9
+1
Level 65
Mar 23, 2020
Wow, Lufthansa has a LOT!
frost2x
+2
Level 52
Jan 10, 2022
There’s a China Southern and Eastern? Dayum
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Jan 27, 2022
On Wikipedia it looks like Cebu Pacific recently overtook Cathay Pacific for the 21st spot among Asian airlines.
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 74
Jan 27, 2022
Lots of hate for some of these in the comments... I've flown quite a lot with different kinds of airlines (including Ryanair) and different kinds of journeys. I can honestly say that I've never had a flight that I didn't enjoy!
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
May 30, 2022
You've been very lucky, then, either in having unusually positive experiences, or that airport security didn't find your stash of amphetamine.
AnAussieHawk1
+2
Level 70
Apr 18, 2023
What happened to Singapore and Etihad? Surely they'd be near the top
forzrise
+1
Level 28
Jan 9, 2025
'cause of old data maybe?
314venetian
+2
Level 72
Jan 8, 2026
Nothing happened to them. The reason they don't sow up is those two airlines only operate out of one airport. It's the same reason Emirates and Qatar are so low. Only so many daily routes an airline can fly when they aren't able to establish more than one base in their country.
chaostess
+1
Level 68
Jan 8, 2026
Had a terrible experience with France.
changeXchange
+3
Level 84
Jan 9, 2026
I think Wizz Air should be in this quiz -- Wizz Air Malta & Wizz Air are 43rd and 44th respectively, and together would place 14th. Even though they are separate legal entities, they're in practice considered to be the same airline and should be included in this list as such.
labienus
+2
Level 67
Jan 17, 2026
Turkish is headquartered on the European side of Istanbul.

The WizzAir question can go either way, they are not the only airline that divides up legal entities for reasons (they also had an Abu Dhabi entity until 2025), but they don't differentiate between the branding whatsoever. Same goes for AirAsia and a few others.

Gumbledalf
+1
Level 77
Jan 17, 2026
Accept China East and China South for Eastern and Southern?
RudeDog
+1
Level 61
Jan 17, 2026
Air France and KLM are the same airline. Numbers should be combined together
th3gtamast3r
+1
Level 83
Jan 27, 2026
Maybe it's because I´m from Denmark, but I expected SAS (Scandinavian Airline System) to be on the list, as they fly often within Europe and even long flights to New York and Beijing
mtwalsh
+1
Level 33
Feb 5, 2026
no "Fly Emirates" for Emirates?
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