Airlines On Social Media — Here’s what we’ve Analyzed!
Before we dive into the results, it is essential to understand what we’ve analyzed and how we rated the airlines’ performance. First, and most importantly, here are the social media platforms we looked at:
We analyzed more than 150 airlines for each social media channel according to the number of followers (Instagram and Twitter) or company page likes on Facebook. Then, for each of the platforms, we created a particular ranking. If you want to check out the platform rankings first, here are the links:
As a final step, we combined the single-platform rankings to one overall “airline social media score.” Therefore, we add the ranks of airlines on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and divide them by three. If two airlines have the same social media score, the airline with higher single ranks gets the higher overall ranking.
The Results
We divided the results into five sections and included the number of followers for each airline on the ranking (May 2021) and country. In addition, with one of the following updates, we will include the fleet size since we believe this helps put some context to an airline’s number of followers on Instagram.
In case you want to jump to top players directly, here’s the table of contents:
- Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 100 – 81
- Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 80 – 61
- Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 60 – 41
- Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 40 – 21
- Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 21 – 1
Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 100 -81
Let’s get started with ranks 100 to 81 of the most comprehensive airline social media ranking. There are no big surprises. Nevertheless, we expected some more prominent airlines (El Al, Lion Air, Condor) to achieve better results. However, most airlines show similar results across all social media platforms when looking at the particular ranks on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Rank | Airline | Country | Twitter Rank | Instagram Rank | Facebook Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 | Air Namibia | Namibia | 94 | 97 | 87 |
99 | UTair | Russia | 90 | 87 | 100 |
98 | Flair Airlines | Canada | 88 | 94 | 95 |
97 | Czech Airlines | Czech Republic | 80 | 98 | 98 |
96 | Middle East Airlines | Lebanon | 87 | 103 | 81 |
95 | HK Airlines | China | 102 | 95 | 67 |
94 | Volotea | Spain | 83 | 90 | 89 |
93 | LOT Polish Airlines | Poland | 93 | 85 | 83 |
92 | Air Serbia | Serbia | 85 | 86 | 84 |
91 | Beijing Capital Airlines | China | 101 | 46 | 102 |
90 | Allegiant | United States | 72 | 91 | 85 |
89 | Caribbean Airlines | Trinidad & Tobago | 86 | 84 | 78 |
88 | airBaltic | Latvia | 74 | 89 | 82 |
87 | Batik Air | Indonesia | 89 | 56 | 99 |
86 | El Al | Israel | 82 | 83 | 79 |
85 | Spirit Airlines | United States | 61 | 81 | 94 |
84 | S7 Airlines | Russia | 99 | 45 | 91 |
83 | NOK Airlines | Thailand | 95 | 79 | 61 |
82 | Condor | Germany | 81 | 76 | 76 |
81 | Lion Air | Indonesia | 70 | 57 | 97 |
[rp4wp]
Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 80 – 61
When looking at the airlines on rank 80 to 60, we can see many mid-sized airlines. However, here are some surprising results:
- VietJet is an airline that achieved extremely different results across social media channels. An outstanding 11th rank on Facebook compared to one of the last ranks on Twitter and Instagram.
- Royal Jordanian and Air India are two examples with quite different results across the different social media channels.
- Again we were surprised to see already some well-established and bigger airlines, such as Finnair, Austrian Airlines, or Jetstar.
Rank | Airline | Country | Twitter Rank | Instagram Rank | Facebook Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
80 | Gulf Air | Bahrain | 71 | 72 | 74 |
79 | Royal Jordanian | Jordan | 40 | 102 | 71 |
78 | Aegean Airlines | Greece | 67 | 77 | 65 |
77 | Transavia | Netherlands | 75 | 82 | 52 |
76 | VietJet | Vietnam | 97 | 101 | 11 |
75 | Jeju Air | South Korea | 84 | 67 | 55 |
74 | Jazeera Airways | Kuwait | 63 | 58 | 77 |
73 | Frontier | United States | 57 | 75 | 66 |
72 | Vietnam Airlines | Vietnam | 96 | 70 | 32 |
71 | Air India | India | 33 | 92 | 72 |
70 | Finnair | Finland | 62 | 66 | 69 |
69 | Austrian Airlines | Austria | 64 | 52 | 80 |
68 | Royal Air Maroc | Morocco | 51 | 80 | 64 |
67 | Aer Lingus | Ireland | 44 | 73 | 75 |
66 | Korean Air | South Korea | 56 | 61 | 73 |
65 | Jetstar | Australia | 49 | 78 | 59 |
64 | Air Arabia | United Arab Emirates | 69 | 71 | 45 |
63 | Eurowings | Germany | 66 | 51 | 60 |
62 | Kuwait Airways | Kuwait | 53 | 35 | 88 |
61 | Air Europa | Spain | 43 | 64 | 68 |
Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 60 – 41
When looking at the following 20 ranks, it becomes evident that many airlines focus on one or two social media channels. Here are a few examples:
- China Eastern is a big player on Facebook (16) but seems not to focus on Twitter (60) and Instagram (99).
- flynas is doing very well on Twitter (23), average on Instagram (47) but pays no attention to Facebook (101).
- Aeromexico is another amazing example: Top ten on Twitter (9), average on Instagram (44), and one of the last ranks on Facebook (103).
- Chinas Southern Airlines is the opposite: No focus on Twitter (76), average on Instagram (63), but a top player on Facebook (7).
Rank | Airline | Country | Twitter Rank | Instagram Rank | Facebook Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
60 | China Eastern Airlines | China | 60 | 99 | 16 |
59 | EgyptAir | Egypt | 54 | 74 | 46 |
58 | flynas | Saudi Arabia | 23 | 47 | 101 |
57 | SAS Scandinavian Airlines | Sweden | 58 | 60 | 53 |
56 | Pegasus Airlines | Turkey | 65 | 55 | 50 |
55 | Vueling | Spain | 41 | 69 | 56 |
54 | GoAir | India | 47 | 62 | 57 |
53 | Aeroflot | Russia | 50 | 24 | 90 |
52 | SpiceJet | India | 46 | 59 | 54 |
51 | Ethiopian Airlines | Ethiopia | 35 | 88 | 36 |
50 | Hawaiian Airlines | United States | 48 | 40 | 70 |
49 | Aeromexico | Mexico | 9 | 44 | 103 |
48 | Iberia | Spain | 78 | 39 | 37 |
47 | WestJet | Canada | 25 | 68 | 58 |
46 | Avianca | Colombia | 91 | 33 | 27 |
45 | Wizz Air | Hungary | 77 | 48 | 25 |
44 | Indigo | India | 37 | 49 | 63 |
43 | Citilink | Indonesia | 19 | 42 | 86 |
42 | TAP | Portugal | 68 | 29 | 49 |
41 | China Southern Airlines | China | 76 | 63 | 7 |
Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 40 – 21
When getting closer to the top ten airlines on social media, we can see more and more big players. However, the ranks 40 to 20 show a similar situation as discussed above: Airlines do not focus equally across all platforms. Here are few examples:
- Brazil’s GOL does very well on Instagram (16) and Facebook (21) but pays no attention to Twitter (100). Therefore, the airline ranks only 40th.
- easyjet is a big player on Twitter (9) but only average on Instagram and Facebook. Subsequently, the airline only ranks 32nd.
- jetBlue is similar to easyjet: Outstanding results on Twitter (7) but only average on Instagram (36) and Facebook (44).
- LATAM is one of the best airlines on Facebook (3) and Instagram (4). However, since say pay less attention to Twitter (73), the airline only ranks 22nd.
Rank | Airline | Country | Twitter Rank | Instagram Rank | Facebook Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
40 | Alitalia | Italy | 52 | 43 | 47 |
39 | GOL | Brazil | 100 | 16 | 21 |
38 | Volaris | Mexico | 79 | 37 | 15 |
37 | Oman Air | Oman | 27 | 54 | 41 |
36 | Viva Aerobus | Mexico | 17 | 65 | 38 |
35 | Virgin Atlantic | United Kingdom | 26 | 26 | 62 |
34 | All Nippon Airlines | Japan | 55 | “8 | 30 |
33 | Swiss Airlines | Switzerland | 42 | 19 | 51 |
32 | Easyjet | United Kingdom | 9 | 41 | 39 |
31 | Thai Airways | Thailand | 59 | 23 | 26 |
30 | Alaska Airlines | United States | 36 | 31 | 40 |
29 | Aerolineas Argentina | Argentina | 34 | 27 | 35 |
28 | Air New Zealand | New Zealand | 24 | 38 | 33 |
27 | Qantas | Australia | 31 | 15 | 43 |
26 | Air Canada | Canada | 30 | 17 | 42 |
25 | JetBlue | United States | 7 | 36 | 44 |
24 | Cathay Pacific | China | 28 | 25 | 34 |
23 | United Airlines | United States | 18 | 20 | 48 |
22 | LATAM | Chile | 73 | 4 | 3 |
21 | Philippine Airlines | Philippines | 4 | 53 | 20 |
Top 100 Airlines on Social Media: 20 – 1
And here we go with the ultimate top airlines on social media. There are no big surprises since we see most of the world’s leading airlines.
Rank | Airline | Country | Twitter Rank | Instagram Rank | Facebook Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | Japan Airlines | Japan | 20 | 34 | 22 |
19 | Azul | Brazil | 39 | 18 | 17 |
18 | Lufthansa | Germany | 45 | 6 | 19 |
17 | Malaysia Airlines | Malaysia | 10 | 30 | 29 |
16 | Ryanair | Ireland | 32 | 22 | 13 |
15 | Cebu Pacific | Philippine | 2 | 50 | 12 |
14 | Air France | France | 38 | 10 | 8 |
13 | American Airlines | United States | 13 | 12 | 28 |
12 | British Airways | United Kingdom | 16 | 13 | 24 |
11 | Saudia | Saudi Arabia | 12 | 32 | 9 |
10 | Delta Air Lines | United States | 14 | 11 | 23 |
9 | Singapore Airlines | Singapore | 22 | 8 | 18 |
8 | Garuda Indonesia | Indonesia | 1 | 9 | 31 |
7 | Etihad | United Arab Emirates | 21 | 5 | 14 |
6 | Southwest Airlines | United States | 6 | 21 | 10 |
5 | AirAsia | Malaysia | 3 | 14 | 4 |
4 | Emirates | United Arab Emirates | 15 | 1 | 5 |
3 | Turkish Airlines | Turkey | 8 | 3 | 6 |
2 | KLM | Netherlands | 5 | 7 | 2 |
1 | Qatar Airways | Qatar | 11 | 2 | 1 |
Do you miss an Airline?
Do you think we’ve missed an airline? Leave us a comment below, and we’ll include it with the next update of the list.