Vehicles & Machines

The Largest Airlines in the World by Passengers Carried

American Airlines carried about 224 million passengers in 2025, ahead of Ryanair and Delta. Fourteen airline groups ranked by passengers carried, with hubs, alliances and the year each reports. As of October 2026.

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American Airlines unveils its Stand Up To Cancer livery plane

Pictured: an American Airlines aircraft in its Stand Up To Cancer livery. American is #1 with about 224 million passengers boarded in 2025.

Rank Airline (group) Passengers carried (millions) Year reported Country Main hubs Alliance Notes
1American Airlines Group224Calendar 2025United StatesDFW, CLT, MIA, ORD, PHL, PHXoneworldIncludes 57M boardings on American Eagle regional flights.
2Ryanair Group206.5Calendar 2025IrelandDublin, London Stansted, Madrid, BarcelonaNoneRyanair, Buzz, Lauda Europe and Malta Air combined; point-to-point, no hubs.
3Delta Air Lines200+Calendar 2025United StatesATL, DTW, MSP, SLC, JFK, LAXSkyTeamDelta reports “over 200 million customers”, not an exact count.
4United Airlines181Calendar 2025United StatesORD, DEN, IAH, EWR, SFO, IADStar AllianceRevenue passengers counted per flight segment; includes United Express.
5China Southern Airlines173.7Calendar 2025ChinaGuangzhou, Beijing Daxing, UrumqiSkyTeamGroup total; December 2025 alone was 13.9M.
6Southwest Airlines168.3Calendar 2025United StatesDallas Love, Denver, Las Vegas, Chicago MidwayNoneEnplaned (boardings) count; “revenue passengers carried” was 134.1M.
7Air China Group160.6Calendar 2025ChinaBeijing Capital, Chengdu, Shanghai PudongStar AllianceGroup total, +3.4% on 2024 (155.3M).
8China Eastern Airlines149.9Calendar 2025ChinaShanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao, Xi’anSkyTeam+6.7% on 2024; 20.8M of them international.
9Lufthansa Group135Calendar 2025GermanyFrankfurt, Munich, Zurich, ViennaStar AllianceLufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, Eurowings and others; reported as “around 135 million”.
10IndiGo123.4Fiscal year to March 2026IndiaDelhi, Mumbai, BengaluruNoneFiscal-year figure (April 2025–March 2026); no calendar-2025 total is published.
11International Airlines Group (IAG)121.6Calendar 2025UK / SpainLondon Heathrow, Madrid, Barcelona, DublinoneworldBritish Airways, Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus, Level; down 0.4% on 2024.
12Air France–KLM102.8Calendar 2025France / NetherlandsParis CDG, Amsterdam SchipholSkyTeamIncludes Transavia (26.1M); first year above 100M since 2019.
13Turkish Airlines92.6Calendar 2025TurkeyIstanbulStar AllianceMainline plus AJet; +8.8% on 2024.
14LATAM Airlines Group87.4Calendar 2025ChileSantiago, São Paulo, Lima, BogotáNoneChile, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador affiliates combined.

Ranking rule: airlines are ranked by passengers carried in calendar year 2025, in millions, as each airline or group reports it in its own annual report, results release or traffic statistics (see Sources). Groups, not brands: a holding company counts as one entry where it reports a single passenger total — Lufthansa Group, IAG, Air France–KLM, LATAM, Ryanair Group and American Airlines Group (which includes its American Eagle regional partners, whose 57M boardings it reports inside its 224M). United’s total includes United Express. Boardings, not unique travellers: a passenger who takes two flights counts twice, so the list favours short-haul and hub-and-spoke networks over long-haul carriers. Southwest is shown on its “enplaned passengers” basis (168.3M), which counts connecting boardings the way American and United do; its narrower “revenue passengers carried” figure is 134.1M. Year basis: everything is calendar 2025 except IndiGo, which reports only fiscal years (April 2025–March 2026, 123.4M). Ryanair’s fiscal year ends in March, so its calendar-year traffic figure is used. Delta says it served “over 200 million customers” and publishes no exact count, so its 200 is a floor; it is ahead of United’s 181M either way. Left out: carriers whose full-2025 total I could not confirm from the airline itself, notably easyJet (fiscal year ends September), Wizz Air, Emirates and Qatar Airways (March fiscal years) and Hainan Airlines Group. The table stops at LATAM’s 87.4M. Hubs and alliances are as of October 2026.[1]

The Top 10

#1

American Airlines Group — about 224 million

The world’s biggest airline by passengers boarded. American’s 2025 annual report says “approximately 224 million passengers boarded our flights”, 57 million of them on American Eagle regional flights, about 42% of whom connected to or from mainline flights. That is below the 226 million-plus it reported for 2024, so American leads on volume without setting a record. Its hubs in Dallas–Fort Worth, Charlotte, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia and Phoenix feed the numbers.[2]

#2

Ryanair Group — 206.5 million

Europe’s largest airline carried 206.5 million passengers in 2025, up 5% from 197.2 million in 2024, at a 94% load factor. Its own fiscal year ends in March (200.2 million for the year to March 2025), so the calendar figure from its monthly traffic releases is used here. The total covers Ryanair, Buzz, Lauda Europe and Malta Air.[3]

#3

Delta Air Lines — over 200 million

Delta’s 2025 annual report says it “served over 200 million customers” without giving an exact boarding count, so 200 is a floor; United reported 181 million, so Delta can’t fall below third. Delta flew about 249.6 billion revenue passenger miles at an 84% load factor, and the video is its centennial documentary — it turned 100 in 2025.[4]

#4

United Airlines — 181 million

United reported a record 181 million passengers in 2025, counted by flight segment, an average of more than 496,000 a day. It flew the largest mainline schedule in its history and has the biggest mainline fleet of any airline, though it carries fewer passengers than American.[5]

#5

China Southern Airlines — 173.7 million

Asia’s biggest airline carried 173.73 million passengers in 2025, up 5.5%, about 151 million of them on domestic routes. It was the one of China’s big three to report a profit for the year, while Air China and China Eastern posted losses.[6]

#6

Southwest Airlines — 168.3 million

Southwest’s 10-K reports 168.3 million enplaned passengers for 2025, down 4.1% from 175.5 million in 2024. Its narrower “revenue passengers carried” measure, which counts each ticketed trip once, was 134.1 million; the enplaned figure is used so Southwest is measured the same way as American and United.[7]

#7

Air China Group — 160.6 million

China’s flag carrier carried 160.60 million passengers in 2025, up 3.4% from 155.3 million, and posted its sixth consecutive annual loss. A Star Alliance member with its main hub at Beijing Capital, it also owns Shenzhen Airlines.[8]

#8

China Eastern Airlines — 149.9 million

China Eastern carried 149.94 million passengers in 2025, up 6.7%: 125.3 million domestic, 20.8 million international and 3.8 million to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. International traffic grew 21.4%, the fastest segment. The Shanghai-based SkyTeam member flies the Comac C919.[9]

#9

Lufthansa Group — 135 million

Europe’s biggest network group says its passenger airlines carried around 135 million passengers in 2025, up 3%, at a record 83.2% seat load factor. The group combines Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and others.[10]

#10

IndiGo — 123.4 million

India’s biggest airline carried 123.4 million passengers in its fiscal year to March 2026, up 4% from 118.6 million, though a Middle East conflict and disruption trimmed its final quarter to 31.6 million (−1.1%). It is the only top-10 airline here that reports on a fiscal rather than calendar year.[11]

Airlines Airline Groups Passengers Air Travel Aviation

Sources

  1. Each airline’s own annual report, results release or traffic statistics for 2025 (below), read October 2026; Wikipedia, “Largest airlines in the world” (en.wikipedia.org) for the airline-group list and 2024 context. IATA’s 2025 World Air Transport Statistics (iata.org) was published in July 2026, but its airline-level table was not available.
  2. American Airlines Group, Form 10-K for 2025 (sec.gov): “approximately 224 million passengers boarded our flights”, 57 million on regional flights; the 2024 10-K gave over 226 million. A secondary snapshot (StatRanker) shows 223.5M.
  3. Ryanair monthly traffic releases for 2025, as reported by RTÉ (rte.ie) and The Portugal News (206.5 million, +5% on 197.2 million); fiscal-year figure from Zacks.
  4. Delta Air Lines, Form 10-K for 2025 (delta 10-K): “we served over 200 million customers”; operating statistics (RPMs 249,578 million, load factor 84%).
  5. United Airlines, “Q4 and Full Year EPS Beat Wall Street Expectations”, January 20, 2026 (united.mediaroom.com): “Flew a record 181 million passengers”; passengers measured by each flight segment flown.
  6. China Southern Airlines, December 2025 operating results (173,730,790 passengers year to date, via MarketScreener) and its April 2026 annual results presentation (about 174 million); FlightGlobal, “China Southern leads mixed Chinese carrier results in 2025” (flightglobal.com).
  7. Southwest Airlines, Form 10-K for 2025 (sec.gov), operating data: revenue passengers carried 134,110 thousand; enplaned passengers 168,334 thousand (2024: 175,466 thousand).
  8. Air China, 2025 Annual Report (hkexnews.hk): passengers carried 160,596.53 thousand vs 155,315.51 thousand, +3.40%.
  9. China Eastern Airlines, 2025 Annual Results Announcement, March 30, 2026 (futunn.com): number of passengers carried 149,944.44 thousand, +6.67%.
  10. Lufthansa Group, Annual Report 2025 (report.lufthansagroup.com) and Airways Magazine coverage: around 135 million passengers, +3%, seat load factor 83.2%.
  11. IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation) fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2026 results, May 2026, as reported by Kotak Neo and Business News This Week: 123.4 million passengers, +4% on 118.6 million in FY2025 (IndiGo’s own FY2025 release: goindigo.in).
  12. International Airlines Group, 2025 full-year results (February 2026), via Aviación al Día (aviacionaldia.com): 121.6 million passengers, −0.4%. Air France–KLM, Full Year 2025 release, February 19, 2026 (globenewswire.com): 102,844 thousand, +5.0%. Turkish Airlines 2025 traffic release: 92.6 million, +8.8%. LATAM Airlines Group, 4Q25 results (ir.latam.com): 87.4 million, +6.6%.