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Top 10 Biggest Airlines in the World

Apart from maybe the internet, no other invention has brought the world closer together than the plane. There is currently no other transportation method that brings you quicker and safer from A to B than airplanes. Planes allow you to travel throughout our planet in the matter of not more than a day. The biggest airlines safely bring tens of millions of their passengers to their desired destinations.

Due to the Covid pandemic, airlines took a hit in 2021 since fewer people generally traveled. But in 2022, the number of civilian flights performed all over the world is projected to recover to pre-pandemic heights. It is, therefore, no surprise that the global air travel industry is still doing quite well overall. The multi-billion industry is in fact now one of the largest markets there is. And also one of the most competitive ones. The following ranking shows you the current Top 10 Biggest Airlines in the World by reached revenue last year.

The achieved revenue of an airline highly correlates with the number of passengers the airline carried during a year. However, the level of ticket prices and in that context the countries and regions an airline operates in can also have a huge impact on revenue performance as you can see in the current Top 10 Airlines ranking.

Note: For the Top 10 Ranking of Busiest Airports in the World, click here.

The 10 Biggest Airlines in the World 2022

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1. American Airlines

biggest airlines - american airlines

2. Delta Air Lines

biggest airline in the world  - delta

3. United Airlines


4. China Southern Airlines


5. Lufthansa

biggest airlines


6. Air China


7. China Eastern Airlines


8. Southwest Airlines


9. All Nippon Airways


10. Air France


The 10 Biggest Airlines in the World 2022

(as of March 2022)

Top 10 Biggest Airlines in the World:
1. AMERICAN AIRLINES
Revenue: $29.9 billion
2. DELTA AIR LINES
Revenue: $29.9 billion
3. UNITED AIRLINES
Revenue: $24.6 billion
4. CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES
Revenue: $16.4 billion
5. LUFTHANSA
Revenue: $15.4 billion
6. AIR CHINA
Revenue: $10.9 billion
7. CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES
Revenue: $10.8 billion
8. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
Revenue: $9.1 billion
9. ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS
Revenue: $8.0 billion
10. AIR FRANCE
Revenue: $7.1 billion

Ranking of the top 10 biggest airlines in the world ranking, based on most current revenue numbers. Tiebreaker: More annual passengers.


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