The largest airlines in the world can be measured in several ways. As of 2026, United Airlines was the largest in terms of available seat miles, revenue seat miles, mainline fleet size, the number of
Delta Air Lines ranks first by revenue, net income, total assets, market capitalization and brand value.
United Airlines ranks first in ASM, RPM, fleet size and number of both destinations and employees.
American Airlines Group ranks first by number of passengers carried.
FedEx Express is the largest by freight tonne-kilometers.
Lufthansa
Videos
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, trading as Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation holding company. Its principal airline, Lufthansa German Airlines is the flag carrier of Germany. Lufthansa Group is the second-
Largest airlines in the world
…Country Revenue (in US$ billion) 1 Delta Air Lines United States 63.3 2 United Airlines United States 59.0 3 American Airlines Group United States 54.6 4 Lufthansa Group Germany 45.7 5 International Airlines Group United Kingdom / Spain 38.3 6 Air France–KLM France / Netherlands 35.5 7 Southwest Airlines United States…
A Lufthansa Airbus A350-900
Lufthansa's first aircraft, a Convair 340 (type pictured), was delivered in August 1954.
Lufthansa Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation operating a transatlantic scheduled service from Hamburg to Montreal and Chicago in 1956
A Boeing 707 at Hamburg Airport in 1984, shortly before the type was retired