Ryanair confirmed as world’s largest international airline
Delta is the world’s largest airline in terms of passenger numbers, but Ryanair carries more passengers on international routes than any other.
Latest data released by IATA revealed that Ryanair carried 86.3 million international passengers last year, making it the world’s largest international airline, well ahead of easyJet in second place with 56.3 million.
British Airways lagged well behind in fifth place with 35.3 million, after Lufthansa with 48.2m and Emirates with 47.2m.
Delta Air Lines carried more than 129 million passengers on domestic and international routes, making it by far the largest airline overall.
In terms of international and domestic passengers carried, Ryanair was the sixth largest in the world and easyJet the eighth biggest. Aside from Lufthansa, they were the only two non-US or Chinese airlines to feature in the top 10.
Total (International + Domestic)
|
Rank |
Airline |
Thousands |
|
1 |
Delta Air Lines |
129,433 |
|
2 |
Southwest Airlines |
129,087 |
|
3 |
China Southern Airlines |
100,683 |
|
4 |
United Airlines |
90,439 |
|
5 |
American Airlines |
87,830 |
|
6 |
Ryanair |
86,370 |
|
7 |
China Eastern Airlines |
66,174 |
|
8 |
easyJet |
62,309 |
|
9 |
Lufthansa |
59,850 |
|
10 |
Air China |
54,577 |
International
|
Rank |
Airline |
Thousands |
|
1 |
Ryanair |
86,370 |
|
2 |
easyJet |
56,312 |
|
3 |
Lufthansa |
48,244 |
|
4 |
Emirates |
47,278 |
|
5 |
British Airways |
35,364 |
|
6 |
Air France |
31,682 |
|
7 |
Turkish Airlines |
31,016 |
|
8 |
KLM |
27,740 |
|
9 |
United Airlines |
25,708 |
|
10 |
Delta Air Lines |
24,243 |
Domestic
|
Rank |
Airline |
Thousands |
|
1 |
Southwest Airlines |
129,087 |
|
2 |
Delta Air Lines |
105,190 |
|
3 |
China Southern Airlines |
91,729 |
|
4 |
American Airlines |
67,761 |
|
5 |
United Airlines |
64,731 |
|
6 |
China Eastern Airlines |
57,986 |
|
7 |
US Airways |
48,043 |
|
8 |
Air China |
46,466 |
|
9 |
All Nippon Airways |
39,277 |
|
10 |
Gol Airlines |
36,311 |
Have your say Cancel reply
Subscribe/Login to Travel Mole Newsletter
Travel Mole Newsletter is a subscriber only travel trade news publication. If you are receiving this message, simply enter your email address to sign in or register if you are not. In order to display the B2B travel content that meets your business needs, we need to know who are and what are your business needs. ITR is free to our subscribers.
































France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt