The 15 Largest Airlines in the World, Ranked by Fleet Size (2026)

United Airlines is the largest airline in the world by mainline fleet size, with 1,112 aircraft as of February 2026. American Airlines is second with 1,013, and Delta Air Lines third with 1,004.

Those three are the only airlines in the world that operate more than a thousand of their own aircraft. The gap to fourth place, China Southern Airlines, is more than 150 jets.

“Largest” is not one question, though. Change the measure and the winner changes: American carries the most passengers, Delta earns the most revenue, and United flies the most seat miles and serves the most destinations.

This ranking uses mainline fleet size, meaning aircraft the airline itself operates. Every alternative measure is ranked further down, with its own table.

Rank	Airline	Country	Mainline aircraft
1	United Airlines	United States	1,112
2	American Airlines	United States	1,013
3	Delta Air Lines	United States	1,004
4	China Southern Airlines	China	850
5	Southwest Airlines	United States	810
6	China Eastern Airlines	China	664
7	Ryanair	Ireland	647
8	SkyWest Airlines	United States	579
9	Turkish Airlines	Turkey	545
10	Air China	China	510
11	IndiGo	India	425
12	JetBlue	United States	279
13	Lufthansa	Germany	274
14	Emirates	United Arab Emirates	266
15	British Airways	United Kingdom	254

1. United Airlines (1,112 aircraft)

United has kept adding aircraft since that February count, reaching 1,135 mainline jets by August 2026. It is the only airline that has ever claimed a mainline fleet that large.

Scale is the whole strategy. United flies 330 billion available seat miles a year, more than any other airline, and serves 392 destinations, also the most.

The fleet leans hard on the Boeing 737 family for domestic flying and on the 787 for long haul, a split that shows how completely the twin-aisle widebody has replaced the four-engine jets that used to define a flag carrier. United’s Chicago, Denver, Houston, Newark and San Francisco hubs are among the busiest airports in the US.

2. American Airlines (1,013 aircraft)

American reported 1,030 mainline aircraft by June 2026, second only to United, and had 301 more Airbus and Boeing aircraft on order as of October 2025.

The fleet is unusually narrowbody-heavy for a global carrier. The 737-800 alone accounts for 303 airframes, with 203 Airbus A321-200s behind it.

Add the American Eagle regional network and the operation gets much bigger again, which is the single biggest reason different lists crown different airlines. More on that below.

3. Delta Air Lines (1,004 aircraft)

Delta operated 1,004 mainline aircraft as of July 2026, and it is the largest airline in the world by revenue, at $63.3 billion in 2025.

Its fleet is the oldest of the big three, averaging 15.0 years as of June 2026, and that is deliberate. Delta runs its own heavy maintenance operation and keeps types other airlines have written off, which is why it holds the world’s largest passenger fleets of the Airbus A220, Boeing 717, Boeing 757, Boeing 767 and Airbus A330.

The result is a fleet that keeps earning long after rival airlines would have traded the same aircraft in, and a maintenance operation big enough to make that work.

4. China Southern Airlines (850 aircraft)

China Southern is the largest airline outside the United States and the largest in Asia, with 850 aircraft flown from hubs in Guangzhou and Beijing.

It is also the most domestically focused airline of this size anywhere. Chinese internal demand is deep enough that a carrier can reach 850 aircraft while serving 226 destinations, far fewer than United’s 392.

It was also the only Chinese airline ever to fly the Airbus A380. China Southern took five of them from 2011 and flew the last commercial service on 5 November 2022, ferrying the final two to storage at Mojave the following month.

5. Southwest Airlines (810 aircraft)

Southwest is the largest Boeing 737 operator in the world. Apart from seven Boeing 727-200s leased between 1978 and 1985, it has never flown anything else.

One type means one set of spare parts, one maintenance program and one pilot qualification, so any crew can fly any aircraft in the fleet. That is a structural cost advantage no mixed-fleet airline can copy.

It also concentrates risk. When the 737 MAX was grounded in 2019, Southwest lost its entire growth plan at once, with no alternative type to shift flying onto.

6. China Eastern Airlines (664 aircraft)

China Eastern flies 664 aircraft from Shanghai, the second of China’s three state-backed majors and the sixth largest airline in the world.

It was the launch operator of the Comac C919, the Chinese-built narrowbody aimed squarely at the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. The first commercial flight left Shanghai Hongqiao for Beijing on 28 May 2023.

China Eastern held 17 of the 40 C919s delivered by May 2026, with Air China and China Southern taking 11 each. If that line reaches volume, it would be the first real challenge to the Boeing and Airbus duopoly in decades.

7. Ryanair (647 aircraft)

Ryanair is Europe’s largest airline and the largest low-cost carrier in the world, with 647 aircraft as of September 2026.

The fleet is 411 Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft, 210 higher-density 737-8200 “Gamechangers” seating 197, and 26 Airbus A320s inherited with Lauda. A further 300 Boeing 737 MAX 10s are on order through 2034.

Ryanair Holdings carried 184 million passengers in 2024, third in the world and more than United, despite flying almost nothing beyond Europe and North Africa.

8. SkyWest Airlines (579 aircraft)

SkyWest is the largest airline most travelers have never knowingly flown. Its 579 regional jets operate as United Express, Delta Connection, American Eagle and Alaska SkyWest, painted in the majors’ colors.

The business model is capacity purchase. A major sells the ticket and sets the schedule, SkyWest supplies the aircraft and the crew, and the major pays per block hour regardless of how full the flight is.

That arrangement is why SkyWest ranks eighth here on its own, and why lists that fold regional flying into the brand it wears get very different totals.

9. Turkish Airlines (545 aircraft)

Turkish Airlines flies 545 aircraft and reaches 130 countries, more than any other airline in the world.

Geography does the work. Istanbul sits between Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, close enough to all four that a single hub can connect them on narrowbody aircraft rather than widebodies.

Turkish serves 290 destinations, fourth worldwide, and earned $24.1 billion in 2025. You can see the full ranking on our airlines with the most destinations data page.

10. Air China (510 aircraft)

Air China is the country’s designated flag carrier and the third of the Chinese majors, with 510 aircraft based mainly in Beijing.

It is the smallest of the three by fleet but carries the state’s diplomatic flying, including the government charters that other countries hand to their air force.

Air China reported $23.4 billion in revenue in 2025, tenth in the world and within striking distance of Turkish Airlines.

11. IndiGo (425 aircraft)

IndiGo operated 425 aircraft as of July 2026 and is the fastest-growing airline on this list by a wide margin.

It carried 118 million passengers in its 2025 financial year, eighth in the world, from a base of 2,700 daily flights to 137 destinations.

India’s domestic market is where the growth is, and IndiGo holds most of it. On current delivery schedules it is the airline most likely to break into the global top 10 next.

12. JetBlue (279 aircraft)

JetBlue operated 279 aircraft as of June 2025, serving 111 destinations across the Americas and a handful of European cities.

It sits in an awkward middle: too small to match the big three’s networks, too expensive to compete with the ultra-low-cost carriers on price.

Its fleet count is the least current figure in this ranking, so treat positions 12 through 15 as close enough to move with a season’s deliveries and retirements.

13. Lufthansa (274 aircraft)

Lufthansa mainline flew 274 aircraft as of June 2026, with 140 more on order. That count excludes Lufthansa City Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo.

Counted as a group, with Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and ITA folded in, the total reached 735 aircraft at the end of 2024, which would place it fifth in the world.

Lufthansa Group earned $45.7 billion in 2025, fourth globally and the highest of any airline outside the United States. It is also one of the last operators of both the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747, two of the largest commercial airplanes ever built.

14. Emirates (266 aircraft)

Emirates flew 266 passenger aircraft as of June 2026, plus 24 freighters under Emirates SkyCargo. Only two types matter: 116 Airbus A380s and 127 Boeing 777s.

That is the smallest fleet on this list and the fourth largest airline in the world by available seat miles, at 222 billion in 2024. The reason is size per aircraft: an A380 carries roughly twice what a narrowbody does, on routes twice as long.

Emirates serves 137 destinations in 77 countries from a single hub, and flies more than 3,600 flights a week. No other airline has bet so completely on the very large aircraft.

15. British Airways (254 aircraft)

British Airways operated 254 mainline aircraft as of October 2025, with 74 on order. The count excludes BA CityFlyer and BA EuroFlyer.

Its largest single type is the Boeing 777-200ER, with 43 in service, an unusually widebody-heavy profile driven by Heathrow’s slot constraints.

When a hub cannot add flights, the only way to grow is to add seats per flight. Parent company International Airlines Group, which also owns Iberia and Aer Lingus, earned $38.3 billion in 2025 and carried 122 million passengers in 2024.

Change the measure, change the winner

Fleet size is one honest answer to “largest.” Here are the others, each with the year it was measured.

Most passengers carried

Rank	Airline group	Passengers (millions)
1	American Airlines Group	225
2	Delta Air Lines	200
3	Ryanair Holdings	184
4	United Airlines	174
5	Southwest Airlines	140
6	Lufthansa Group	131
7	International Airlines Group	122
8	IndiGo	119

These are group figures, which is why Ryanair beats United here and loses to it on fleet size. A low-cost airline flying short sectors turns each aircraft around far more often than a long-haul carrier can.

Most available seat miles

Rank	Airline	ASMs (billions)	Year
1	United Airlines	330	2025
2	American Airlines	299	2025
3	Delta Air Lines	298	2025
4	Emirates	222	2024
5	Southwest Airlines	180	2025
6	Qatar Airways	159	2024

Available seat miles is the measure the industry itself uses, because it captures distance as well as volume. It is the fairest single number for comparing a long-haul airline with a short-haul one.

Most revenue

Rank	Airline group	2025 revenue
1	Delta Air Lines	$63.3 billion
2	United Airlines	$59.0 billion
3	American Airlines Group	$54.6 billion
4	Lufthansa Group	$45.7 billion
5	International Airlines Group	$38.3 billion
6	Air France-KLM	$35.5 billion

Most destinations and most countries

Measure	Leader	Figure
Destinations served	United Airlines	392
Countries served	Turkish Airlines	130
Routes served	Southwest Airlines	most in the world
Freight carried	FedEx Express	18,133 million CTK

Our airlines with the most daily flights page tracks a fifth measure, departures per day, which favors short-haul operators again.

What about FedEx and the cargo airlines?

FedEx Express is the largest cargo airline in the world and would rank high on any raw aircraft count. It operates about 702 aircraft in total, but only 380 of those are mainline jets.

The other 317 are FedEx Feeder aircraft flown by contractors, mostly single-engine Cessna 208B Caravans and ATR turboprops. Counting a Caravan alongside a Boeing 777 is how older lists put FedEx in the global top five.

On mainline jets alone, 380 aircraft would place FedEx around twelfth. On freight actually moved it is first in the world by a clear margin, ahead of Qatar Airways Cargo and UPS Airlines.

Its most numerous type is the Boeing 767-300F, with 152 in service, and it also flies 56 Boeing 777Fs, among the largest cargo planes in commercial service.

Airlines that just missed the top 15

Alaska Airlines reports 351 aircraft as of June 2026, which would place it twelfth. That figure includes Horizon Air, SkyWest-operated regional jets and cargo aircraft, so it is not comparable with the mainline counts used here.

Republic Airways flies 254 regional jets for American, Delta and United, the same contractor model as SkyWest at roughly half the size.

Qatar Airways sits just outside as well, with around 230 aircraft serving 198 destinations, and Hainan Airlines flies 233 as of July 2026.

How this ranking will change

United, American and Delta are all still taking deliveries, and the gaps between them are small enough that the order of the top three could change within a year. United’s lead is the most secure of the three.

IndiGo is the airline to watch at the other end. It is 85 aircraft behind Air China in tenth, and it is adding them faster than any airline on this list.

The Chinese majors are the wild card. Their growth now depends partly on Comac deliveries rather than on Boeing and Airbus, and 40 C919s in three years is not yet a production rate that moves a fleet ranking.

FAQ

What is the largest airline in the world?

United Airlines is the largest airline in the world by mainline fleet size, with 1,112 aircraft as of February 2026, and it also leads on available seat miles and destinations served. American Airlines Group carries the most passengers, at 225 million in 2024, and Delta Air Lines earns the most revenue, at 63.3 billion dollars in 2025. Which airline is largest depends entirely on which of those measures you use.

Who are the big 3 airlines?

In the United States the big three are American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, the three full-service network carriers that each operate more than a thousand mainline aircraft. They are the only airlines in the world at that size. Southwest Airlines is usually added to make a big four, and its 810 aircraft put it fifth globally.

Who are the big 5 airlines?

There is no official definition, which is why the answer varies by source. In the US the phrase normally means American, Delta, United, Southwest and then either Alaska Airlines or JetBlue, the two largest carriers behind them. Measured globally, the five largest airlines by mainline fleet are United, American, Delta, China Southern Airlines and Southwest.

What are the 10 largest airlines in the US?

By mainline fleet size the order is United with 1,112 aircraft, American with 1,013, Delta with 1,004, Southwest with 810, SkyWest with 579, then Alaska Airlines, JetBlue with 279 and Republic Airways with 254. SkyWest and Republic are regional contractors that fly under the majors’ brand names rather than their own. The positions below fifth move with every season of deliveries and retirements.

Which airline has the most passengers?

American Airlines Group carried 225 million scheduled passengers in 2024, the most of any airline group in the world. Delta Air Lines was second with 200 million and Ryanair Holdings third with 184 million. Ryanair beats United on passengers despite a much smaller fleet because short sectors let each aircraft fly far more flights per day.

What is the largest airline outside the United States?

China Southern Airlines, with 850 aircraft, is the largest airline outside the United States and the largest in Asia. Ryanair is the largest in Europe with 647 aircraft, and Turkish Airlines is the largest by countries served, reaching 130. Emirates is the largest long-haul airline, flying 222 billion available seat miles in 2024 from a fleet of only 266 passenger aircraft.

Why do different lists name different airlines as the largest?

Mostly because of regional flying. American Eagle, United Express and Delta Connection jets are operated by contractors such as SkyWest and Republic Airways, not by the majors themselves, so a mainline count excludes them and a brand count includes them. Add American Eagle to American Airlines and the operation reaches roughly 1,500 aircraft. Lists also differ on whether they count cargo subsidiaries, stored aircraft and aircraft on order.

Which airline has the most aircraft including cargo?

FedEx Express operates about 702 aircraft in total, but only 380 are mainline jets. The other 317 are small FedEx Feeder turboprops and Cessna 208B Caravans flown by contractors. FedEx is the largest cargo airline in the world by freight actually moved, at 18,133 million cargo tonne-kilometers in 2024, ahead of Qatar Airways Cargo and UPS Airlines.