World’s Largest Airlines By Number Of Flights — Global & Regional Top 20

As every month, we’re delighted to present the world’s largest airlines. Once again, we counted flights and put together the essential ranking. Here’s what’s contained:

Results Summary
Global Top 20 Airlines
EMEA Top 20 Airlines
North America Top 10 Airlines
Latin America Top 10 Airlines

Summary

U.S. Airlines remain the only carriers with 100,000+ flights
Similar to the last months, the four big U.S. airlines remain the only airlines that operate more than 100,000 flights. Moreover, American Airlines is on its way back to pre-COVID figures and the 200,000 barrier.

European Airlines Recover
Finally, and much later than the U.S. and Chinese airlines, Europe’s top airlines have started to recover and added more flights to their schedule. As a result, many European airlines recorded growth rates of >30% in July.

European Low-Cost Airlines are Top Gainers
The biggest European low-cost airlines (Ryanair, EasyJet, and Wizz Air) recorded the highest growth rates in July. EasyJet adds 126% of additional flights compared to June, whereas Ryanair grew by 59% and Wizz Air by 54%. Spanish Vueling Airlines completes the list with a growth of 55%

Asian & Australian Airlines with Reduced Traffic
Probably due to the Delta-Variant, some Asian and Australian airlines published massive traffic reductions. Qantas lost almost 30% of its traffic, Virgin Australia 31%, and Jetstar 26%.

World’s Largest Airlines By Number of Flights — Global Top 20

EasyJet, Lufthansa, and Shenzhen Airlines are back on the list of the world’s largest airlines by the number of flights. EasyJet directly enters the list at position 12, whereas Lufthansa ranks 17th and Shenzhen 19th. Due to its massive growth, Ryanair surpasses Air China and China Express and ranks 6th. Moreover, no changes in the top five: American Airlines remains the world’s largest airline by the number of flights, followed by Delta, United, Southwest, and China Eastern.

Rank	IATA	Airline	Flights July ’21	Change Prev. Month %
1	AA	American Airlines	179,582	3.5
2	DL	Delta Air Lines	135,629	4.3
3	UA	United Airlines	126,129	18.1
4	WN	Southwest Airlines	106,325	5.6
5	MU	China Eastern Airlines	69,934	9.3
6	FR	Ryanair	60,997	59.0
7	CA	Air China	43,711	11.4
8	G5	China Express	39,773	0.7
9	TK	Turkish Airlines	37,053	41.6
10	AS	Alaska Airlines	35,228	4.0
11	6E	IndiGo	28,436	60.9
12	U2	EasyJet	27,840	126.2
13	B6	JetBlue	26,843	7.1
14	LA	LATAM	26,543	32.1
15	SU	Aeroflot	26,264	10.0
16	AF	Air France	25,001	10.8
17	LH	Lufthansa	24,085	49.7
18	ZH	Shenzhen Airlines	23,298	26.2
19	HU	Hainan Airlines	21,910	27.6
20	MF	Xiamen Airlines	21,814	10.3

World’s Largest Airlines By Number of Flights — EMEA

Similar to the last month, Ryanair remains EMEA’s largest airline. Moreover, Ryanair is Europe’s only airline that operates more than 50,000 flights. Nevertheless, and as already mentioned, many European carriers recorded massive growth rates in July. As a result, British Airways and Alitalia are also back in the top 20. However, worth mentioning that the big gulf carriers (Except Qatar Airways) are still not part of EMEA’s top 20 largest airlines.

Rank	IATA	Airline	Flights July ’21	Change Prev. Month %
1	FR	Ryanair	60,997	59.0
2	TK	Turkish Airlines	37,053	41.6
3	U2	EasyJet	27,840	126.2
4	SU	Aeroflot	26,264	10.0
5	AF	Air France	25,001	10.8
6	LH	Lufthansa	24,085	49.7
7	W6	Wizz Air	17,624	54.0
8	KL	KLM	16,629	30.9
9	PC	Pegasus Airlines	16,098	34.0
10	VY	Vueling	15,697	55.4
11	SV	Saudi Arabian Airlines	13,759	12.2
12	IB	Iberia	13,396	28.9
13	S7	S7 Airlines	13,284	5.4
14	SK	SAS	11,468	49.7
15	QR	Qatar Airways	11,375	16.8
16	WF	Wideroe’s	8,975	0.7
17	EW	Eurowings	8,658	65.0
18	DP	Pobeda	8,348	5.8
19	BA	British Airways	8,222	22.5
20	AZ	Alitalia	8,035	30.1

World’s Largest Airlines By Number of Flights — Asia

Most Asian airlines saw a reduced growth in July — especially compared to previous months. China Eastern Airlines remains the largest airline. Again, worth mentioning that China Southern data is not available. Due to COVID and the Delta-Variant, many Australian airlines were forced to reduce their traffic.

Rank	IATA	Airline	Flights July ’21	Change Prev. Month %
1	MU	China Eastern Airlines	69,934	9.3
2	CA	Air China	43,711	11.4
3	G5	China Express	39,773	0.7
4	6E	IndiGo	28,436	60.9
5	ZH	Shenzhen Airlines	23,298	26.2
6	HU	Hainan Airlines	21,910	27.6
7	MF	Xiamen Airlines	21,814	10.3
8	NH	All Nippon Airways	21,647	10.4
9	JL	Japan Airlines	17,146	18.9
10	9C	Spring Airlines	15,360	11.0
11	NZ	Air New Zealand	14,450	17.0
12	QF	Qantas Airways	11,209	29.2
13	GS	TianJin Airlines	9,093	11.8
14	SG	SpiceJet	8,909	33.2
15	QG	Citilink	8,190	1.1
16	G8	GoAir	7,193	10.7
17	AI	Air India	6,396	11.1
18	JQ	Jetstar Airways	5,514	26.6
19	VA	Virgin Australia	5,347	30.9
20	JT	Lion Air	4,861	61.6

World’s Largest Airlines By Number of Flights — North America

From a ranking point of view, North America looks almost identical to the last month’s ranking. However, based on a 58% growth rate, Air Canada is back in the list of North America’s largest airlines by the number of flights. However, overall, growth rates seem to slow down.

Rank	IATA	Airline	Flights July ’21	Change Prev. Month %
1	AA	American Airlines	179,582	3.5
2	DL	Delta Air Lines	135,629	4.3
3	UA	United Airlines	126,129	18.1
4	WN	Southwest Airlines	106,325	5.6
5	AS	Alaska Airlines	35,228	4.0
6	B6	JetBlue	26,843	7.1
7	NK	Spirit Airlines	21,588	15.5
8	F9	Frontier Airlines	14,457	7.5
9	G4	Allegiant Air	14,023	12.0
10	AC	Air Canada	13,634	58.3

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World’s Largest Airlines By Number of Flights — Latin America

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights July ’21	Change Prev. Month
1	LA	LATAM	26,543	32.1
2	AD	Azul airlines	20,655	19.9
3	AM	Aeromexico	14,549	14.4
4	Y4	Volaris	13,871	9.2
5	G3	GOL	12,684	54.6
6	AV	Avianca	11,244	11.4
7	VB	Vivaaerobus	9,674	16.5
8	CM	Copa Airlines	6,377	19.6
9	VH	Viva Air Colombia	3,410	6.6
10	AR	Aerolineas Argentinas	2,899	91.4

Used Data

The shown information is based on OAG data and internal data sources. Rankings only included airlines that operated more than 500 flights in the respective month. However, the global benchmark includes all tracked flights. On average, 200 airlines are included in each month’s analysis. Whenever stated, EMEA refers to airlines based in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa.

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