Largest airlines in the world: Difference between revisions
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→Historical: "Aeroflot: An Airline and its Aircraft," from Paladwr Press, Oct 1992 by R.E.G. Davies, (Curator of Air Transport at the Smithsonian), ISBN-10: 0962648310, ISBN-13: 978-0962648311 |
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==Historical== |
==Historical== |
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During the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] era, [[Aeroflot]] was the Soviet national airline and the largest airline in the world from late 1930s until the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)|fall of the Soviet Union]], where it employed more than 4,000 pilots, 60,000 other service personnel and operated around 3,000 aircraft at its peak.<ref>p.6, Kotkin, V.F., Civil Air Fleet in the years of initial five-year plans. (Гражданский воздушный флот в годы первых пятилеток.) Civil Aviation of USSR in the years of the Great Patriotic War (Гражданская авиация СССР в годы Великой Отечественной войны), Special Report, Airports - Progressive technologies No.1, 2003, Group of companies Progresstech</ref> By 1967, Aeroflot amassing a fleet equal to that of the largest American carriers combined <ref>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Patrick |title=Ask the pilot |publisher=[[Salon.com]] |date=2004-03-09 |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/col/smith/2004/09/03/askthepilot101/index2.html |accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref> by 1976 Aeroflot carried its 100 millionth passenger. In 1988, Aeroflot operated 1,600 medium- and long-range passenger and cargo aircraft plus many types of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft serving more 3,600 population centers and had a route network, excluding overlapping routes, that extended 1,156,000 kilometers, of which 185,000 kilometers were international routes. Aeroflot transported 3,157,000 tons of freight and carried 116.1 million passengers, of whom 3.4 million were on international flights.<ref>http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0388%29</ref> |
During the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] era, [[Aeroflot]] was the Soviet national airline and the largest airline in the world from late 1930s until the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)|fall of the Soviet Union]], where it employed more than 4,000 pilots, 60,000 other service personnel and operated around 3,000 aircraft at its peak.<ref>p.6, Kotkin, V.F., Civil Air Fleet in the years of initial five-year plans. (Гражданский воздушный флот в годы первых пятилеток.) Civil Aviation of USSR in the years of the Great Patriotic War (Гражданская авиация СССР в годы Великой Отечественной войны), Special Report, Airports - Progressive technologies No.1, 2003, Group of companies Progresstech</ref> However, REG Davies claims that in 1992 Aeroflot had over 600,000 people operating over 10,000 aircraft.<ref>Pages 92 and 94 in "Aeroflot: An Airline and its Aircraft," from Paladwr Press, Oct 1992 by R.E.G. Davies, (Curator of Air Transport at the Smithsonian), ISBN-10: 0962648310, ISBN-13: 978-0962648311</ref> By 1967, Aeroflot amassing a fleet equal to that of the largest American carriers combined <ref>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Patrick |title=Ask the pilot |publisher=[[Salon.com]] |date=2004-03-09 |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/col/smith/2004/09/03/askthepilot101/index2.html |accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref> by 1976 Aeroflot carried its 100 millionth passenger. In 1988, Aeroflot operated 1,600 medium- and long-range passenger and cargo aircraft plus many types of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft serving more 3,600 population centers and had a route network, excluding overlapping routes, that extended 1,156,000 kilometers, of which 185,000 kilometers were international routes. Aeroflot transported 3,157,000 tons of freight and carried 116.1 million passengers, of whom 3.4 million were on international flights.<ref>http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0388%29</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
Revision as of 17:05, 12 November 2009
There are several methods to measure the size of an airline, so several different lists of the world's largest airlines are available.
By scheduled passengers
Scheduled passengers carried
Rank | Airline | 2008 (thousands)[1] |
2007 (thousands)[2] |
2006 (thousands)[3] |
2005 (thousands) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Southwest Airlines | 101,921 | 101,911 | 96,277 | 88,380 | [4] |
2 | American Airlines | 92,772 | 98,162 | 99,835 | 98,038 | [5] |
3 | Delta Air LinesTemplate:Fn | 71,843 | 72,900 | 73,584 | 86,007 | |
4 | United Airlines | 63,070 | 68,400 | 69,265 | 66,717 | |
5 | China Southern Airlines | 57,961 | 56,900 | 48,512 | 43,228 | |
6 | Ryanair | 57,647 | ||||
7 | US Airways | 54,776 | ||||
8 | Lufthansa | 54,699 | 62,900 | 53,400 | 51,300 | [6] |
9 | Air France | 50,449 | 74,795 | 73,484 | 70,015 | [7] |
10 | Northwest Airlines | 49,671 | ||||
Continental Airlines | 53,700 | 55,925 | 57,547 | |||
Japan Airlines | 50,442 | 48,911 | 50,884 | [8] | ||
All Nippon Airways | 50,384 | 49,226 | 48,315 | [9] |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Delta will become the world's largest carrier once Delta and Northwest have combined into one airline, which will be called "Delta".
Scheduled international passengers carried
Rank | Airline | 2008 (thousands)[2] |
2007 (thousands)[3] |
2006 (thousands) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ryanair | 57,647 | 49,030 | 40,532 |
2 | LufthansaTemplate:Fn | 42,151 | 41,322 | 38,236 |
3 | EasyJet | 35,417 | 30,173 | 21,917 |
4 | Air France | 32,508 | 31,549 | 30,417 |
5 | British Airways | 29,054 | 28,302 | 29,498 |
6 | KLM | 23,808 | 23,165 | 22,322 |
7 | Emirates Airline | 22, 444 | 20,448 | 16,748 |
8 | American Airlines | 21,154 | 21,479 | 21,228 |
9 | Singapore AirlinesTemplate:Fn | 19,142 | 18,957 | 18,022 |
10 | Cathay PacificTemplate:Fn | 18,860 |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for Swiss International Air Lines and Germanwings
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for SilkAir
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for Dragonair, which if included will be 23,253.
Scheduled domestic passengers carried
Rank | Airline | 2008 (thousands)[1] |
2007 (thousands)[2] |
2006 (thousands)[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Southwest Airlines | 101,921 | 101,911 | 96,277 |
2 | American Airlines | 71,618 | 76,687 | 78,607 |
3 | Delta Air Lines | 59,499 | 61,651 | 63,446 |
4 | China Southern AirlinesTemplate:Fn | 54,154 | 52,505 | 45,249 |
5 | United Airlines | 53,307 | 58,162 | 58,801 |
6 | US Airways | 49,208 | 37,560 | 32,094 |
7 | All Nippon Airways | 42,854 | 44,792 | 45,328 |
8 | Northwest Airlines | 38,890 | 37,175 | 35,852 |
9 | Japan Airlines | 35,068 | 35,583 | 37,154 |
10 | Continental Airlines | 34,578 | 44,337 | 45,743 |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Includes figures for flights between Hong Kong from the rest of the People's Republic of China.
By scheduled passenger-kilometres
Scheduled passenger-kilometres flown
Rank | Airline | 2008 (millions)[10] |
2006 (millions) |
2005 (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | American Airlines | 242,987 | 231,330 | 222,761 |
2 | United Airlines | 204,706 | 197,684 | 191,933 |
3 | Delta Air LinesTemplate:Fn | 199,895 | 178,952 | 166,209 |
4 | Continental Airlines | 149,845 | 137,712 | 130,965 |
5 | Air FranceTemplate:Fn | 129,433 | 123,458 | 128,914 |
6 | LufthansaTemplate:Fn | 126,267 | 122,672 | 107,091 |
7 | Northwest Airlines | 126,212 | 116,845 | 91,357 |
8 | Southwest Airlines | 124,734 | 116,845 | 90,385 |
9 | British Airways | 114,608 | 113,275 | 114,896 |
10 | KLM | 113,672 |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for KLM
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for Swiss International Air Lines and Germanwings
- Template:Fnb Delta will become the world's largest carrier once operations with Northwest Airlines have combined.
Scheduled international passenger-kilometres flown
Rank | Airline | 2008[10] (millions) |
2007 (millions) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Air FranceTemplate:Fn | 121,498 | 118,112 |
2 | LufthansaTemplate:Fn | 121,101 | 211,987 |
3 | British Airways | 113,075 | 211,987 |
4 | Emirates Airline | 100,672 | 90,530 |
5 | Singapore AirlinesTemplate:Fn | 93,626 | 90,901 |
6 | Cathay PacificTemplate:Fn | 83,542 | 74,987 |
7 | American Airlines | 80,809 | 81,324 |
8 | KLM | 77,550 | |
9 | United Airlines | 73,927 | 77,709 |
10 | Delta Air Lines | 71,972 | 63,202 |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for KLM
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for Swiss International Air Lines and Germanwings
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for SilkAir
- Template:Fnb Includes figures for flights between Hong Kong and the rest of the People's Republic of China
Scheduled domestic passenger-kilometers flown
Rank | Airline | 2008 (millions)[10] |
2007 (millions)[10] |
2006 (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | American Airlines | 131,178 | 141,437 | 143,201 |
2 | Southwest Airlines | 118,272 | 116,385 | 108,935 |
3 | United Airlines | 102,779 | 114,224 | 114,106 |
4 | Delta Air Lines | 97,923 | 103,008 | 104,626 |
5 | US Airways | 77,054 | 52,018 | 43,606 |
6 | China Southern AirlinesTemplate:Fn | 71,584 | 69,367 | 59,006 |
7 | Continental Airlines | 69,814 | 74,126 | 70,810 |
8 | Northwest Airlines | 58,501 | 63,872 | 64,979 |
9 | JetBlue Airways | 41,953 | 41,395 | 37,513 |
10 | Air China | 38,761 |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Includes figures for flights to Hong Kong from the rest of the People's Republic of China.
By scheduled freight
Scheduled freight tonne-kilometres flown
Rank | Airline | 2008 (millions)[11] |
2007 (millions)[11] |
2006 (millions) |
2005 (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | FedEx Express | 26,122 | 19,710 | 16,145 | 12,408 |
2 | UPS Airlines | 16,977 | 13,968 | 9,941 | 9,075 |
3 | Korean Air Cargo | 8,890 | 9,568 | 8,764 | 8,072 |
4 | Cathay Pacific | 8,245 | 8,225 | 6,914 | 6,458 |
5 | Lufthansa CargoTemplate:Fn | 8,206 | 8,348 | 8,091 | 7,680 |
6 | Singapore Airlines CargoTemplate:Fn | 7,486 | 7,945 | 7,991 | 7,603 |
7 | Air FranceTemplate:Fn | 6,820 | 6,126 | 5,868 | 5,532 |
8 | Cargolux | 6,334 | 5,482 | 5,237 | 5,149 |
9 | Emirates Airline | 5,313 | 5,497 | ||
10 | China Airlines | 5,261 | 6,301 | 6,099 | 6,037 |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Includes figures for Lufthansa
- Template:Fnb Includes figures for Singapore Airlines
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for KLM
Scheduled international freight tonne-kilometres flown
Rank | Airline | 2008 (millions)[11] |
2007 (millions) |
2006 (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Korean Air Cargo | 8,822 | 9,498 | 8,680 |
2 | Cathay PacificTemplate:Fn | 8,245 | 8,225 | 6,914 |
3 | Lufthansa CargoTemplate:Fn | 8,194 | 8,336 | 8,077 |
4 | Singapore Airlines CargoTemplate:Fn | 7,486 | 7,945 | 7,991 |
5 | FedEx Express | 6,582 | 6,470 | 6,136 |
6 | Emirates Airline | 6,013 | 5,497 | 5,027 |
7 | Air FranceTemplate:Fn | 6,013 | 6,123 | 5,864 |
8 | Cargolux | 5,334 | 5,482 | 5,237 |
9 | UPS Airlines | 5,289 | 5,077 | |
10 | China Airlines | 5,261 | 6,301 | 6,099 |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Includes figures for Lufthansa
- Template:Fnb Includes figures for Singapore Airlines
- Template:Fnb Includes figures for flights between Hong Kong and the rest of the People's Republic of China
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for KLM
Scheduled domestic freight tonne-kilometres flown
Rank | Airline | 2007 (millions)[11] |
2006 (millions) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | FedEx Express | 9,239 | 9,009 |
2 | UPS Airlines | 5,892 | 5,315 |
3 | China Southern AirlinesTemplate:Fn | 1,101 | 1,027 |
4 | Northwest Airlines | 773 | 890 |
5 | Air ChinaTemplate:Fn | 757 | 706 |
6 | China Eastern AirlinesTemplate:Fn | 590 | 560 |
7 | United Airlines | 507 | 417 |
8 | American Airlines | 469 | 493 |
9 | All Nippon Airways | 407 | 404 |
10 | Japan Airlines | 399 |
- Notes
- Based on International Air Transport Association published figures
- Template:Fnb Excludes figures for flights to Hong Kong and/or Macau from the rest of the People's Republic of China.
By fleet size
Passenger airlines
Rank | Airline | Fleet size | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | American Airlines | 608[12] | |
2 | Delta Air Lines | 575[13] | |
3 | Southwest Airlines | 547[14] | |
4 | United Airlines | 386[15] | |
5 | Air France-KLM | 378[16] | |
6 | Continental Airlines | 361[17] | |
7 | US Airways | 356[18] | |
8 | Air Canada | 334[19] | |
9 | China Southern Airlines | 327[20] | |
10 | SkyWest Airlines | 280[21] | |
11 | American Eagle Airlines | 270[22] |
Cargo airlines
Rank | Airline | Fleet size | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | FedEx Express | 672[23] | |
2 | UPS Airlines | 262[24] | |
3 | DHL Aviation | 77 |
By number of destinations
Current Destination Number
This list comprises the airlines with over 100 destinations. These destinations include subsidiaries airlines of each company, but exclude codeshare agreements.
Rank | Airline | Country | Destination Number |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Delta Air Lines | United States | 375 |
2 | Continental Airlines | United States | 351 |
3 | Northwest Airlines | United States | 254 |
4 | US Airways | United States | 231 |
5 | Lufthansa | Germany | 201 |
6 | Air China | China | 185 |
7 | Air France | France | 170 |
8 | SkyWest Airlines | United States | 160 |
9 | Turkish Airlines | Turkey | 158 |
10 | American Airlines | United States | 157 |
11 | British Airways | United Kingdom | 150 |
12 | Ryanair | Ireland | 143 |
13 | Japan Airlines | Japan | 125 |
13 | KLM | Netherlands | 125 |
15 | Air Berlin | Germany | 123 |
16 | China Southern Airlines | China | 121 |
17 | Iberia Airlines | Spain | 118 |
18 | Korean Air | South Korea | 116 |
19 | United Airlines | United States | 114 |
20 | easyJet | United Kingdom | 106 |
21 | Emirates Airline | United Arab Emirates | 101 |
By region
Scheduled passengers carried
Continent/ region |
Airline | Passengers carried | Full list |
---|---|---|---|
Africa | South African Airways | 8,050,000 (2006/2007)[25] | List of largest airlines in Africa |
Asia | China Southern Airlines | 58,237,000 (2008)[26] | List of largest airlines in Asia |
Europe | Air France-KLM | 74,795,000 (2007)[2] | List of largest airlines in Europe |
North America | Southwest Airlines | 101,911,000 (2007)[2] | List of largest airlines in North America |
Oceania | Qantas | 25,950,000 (2007)[27] | List of largest airlines in Oceania |
South America | TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) | 24,002,620 (2008)[28] | List of largest airlines in South America |
Historical
During the Soviet era, Aeroflot was the Soviet national airline and the largest airline in the world from late 1930s until the fall of the Soviet Union, where it employed more than 4,000 pilots, 60,000 other service personnel and operated around 3,000 aircraft at its peak.[29] However, REG Davies claims that in 1992 Aeroflot had over 600,000 people operating over 10,000 aircraft.[30] By 1967, Aeroflot amassing a fleet equal to that of the largest American carriers combined [31] by 1976 Aeroflot carried its 100 millionth passenger. In 1988, Aeroflot operated 1,600 medium- and long-range passenger and cargo aircraft plus many types of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft serving more 3,600 population centers and had a route network, excluding overlapping routes, that extended 1,156,000 kilometers, of which 185,000 kilometers were international routes. Aeroflot transported 3,157,000 tons of freight and carried 116.1 million passengers, of whom 3.4 million were on international flights.[32]
See also
- World's busiest airport
- World's busiest airports by passenger traffic
- World's busiest airports by traffic movements
- List of the busiest airports in Africa by passenger traffic
- List of the busiest airports in Asia by passenger traffic
- List of the busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic
- List of busiest airports in Latin America by passenger traffic
- List of the largest airports in the Nordic countries
Notes
- ^ a b "WATS Scheduled Passengers Carried 52nd Edition". International Air Transport Association. 2008.
- ^ a b c d e "WATS Scheduled Passengers Carried 52nd Edition". International Air Transport Association. 2007.
- ^ a b c "WATS Scheduled Passengers Carried (dead link)". International Air Transport Association. 2006.
- ^ Southwest Airlines News Releases
- ^ American Airlines Reports December Traffic
- ^ Lufthansa Investor Relations
- ^ Informations financières Air France-KLM
- ^ Japan Airlines FY2008 Traffic Data
- ^ ANA Reports Profitable Fiscal Year 2007
- ^ a b c d "WATS Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". International Air Transport Association. 2007.
- ^ a b c d "WATS Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". International Air Transport Association. 2007.
- ^ American Airlines at airfleets.net
- ^ Delta Air Lines at airfleets.net
- ^ Southwest Airlines at airfleets.net
- ^ United Fleet Facts
- ^ Air France KLM Résultats du 1er trimestre 2008-09
- ^ Continental Fleet
- ^ US Airways Fleet
- ^ Air Canada Fleet
- ^ [1]
- ^ SkyWest Fleet
- ^ [2]
- ^ "FedEx Corporation Facts".
- ^ "UPS:Worldwide".
- ^ South African Airways at Star Alliance
- ^ China Southern 2008 statistics
- ^ Qantas Annual Report 2007
- ^ TAM Annual Report 2006
- ^ p.6, Kotkin, V.F., Civil Air Fleet in the years of initial five-year plans. (Гражданский воздушный флот в годы первых пятилеток.) Civil Aviation of USSR in the years of the Great Patriotic War (Гражданская авиация СССР в годы Великой Отечественной войны), Special Report, Airports - Progressive technologies No.1, 2003, Group of companies Progresstech
- ^ Pages 92 and 94 in "Aeroflot: An Airline and its Aircraft," from Paladwr Press, Oct 1992 by R.E.G. Davies, (Curator of Air Transport at the Smithsonian), ISBN-10: 0962648310, ISBN-13: 978-0962648311
- ^ Smith, Patrick (2004-03-09). "Ask the pilot". Salon.com. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
- ^ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0388%29