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Travel Radar - Aviation News > News > The World’s Biggest Airlines Unveiled

The World’s Biggest Airlines Unveiled

Luke Willmoth
Last updated: 22 September 2018 11:15
By Luke Will
4 Min Read
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GA Media takes a look at the top five airlines based on revenue reported in 2017. Find out the largest airlines:

Summary
Lufthansa Group- $42.61 billionAmerican Airlines Group- $41.2 billionDelta Airlines- $41.24 billionUnited Continental Holdings- $37.73 billionAir France-KLM- $29.06 billion

Lufthansa Group- $42.61 billion

(c) Lufthansa

In 2017, the Lufthansa Group reported revenue of $42.61bn (€35.57bn) in 2017, an increase of 12.4% compared to 2016 and the airline carried 130 million passengers in 2017.

The group’s business is divided into three segments, namely Network Airlines, Point-to-Point Airlines and Aviation Services. The Network Airlines segment includes Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS and Austrian Airlines, while the Point-to-Point Airlines segment constitutes Eurowings, Germanwings, Eurowings Europe and Brussels Airlines.

Lufthansa’s fleet constituted 728 aircraft with an average age of 11.4 years in 2017. It offers services to 308 destinations in 103 countries across the world.

American Airlines Group- $41.2 billion

(c) FPN

The American Airlines Group recorded revenue of $42.2bn in 2017 with the main passenger revenues stemming from their Mainline and regional passenger services- accounting for $36.1bn out of the total amount.

AAG runs 1,545 aircraft and operates 6,700 flights a day to approximately 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. The airline carried 200 million passengers in 2017.

AAG has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas / Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington DC in the US, being primarily based in Fort Worth.

Delta Airlines- $41.24 billion

(c) Daniel Acker

Delta Airlines’s revenue in 2017 totalled $41.24bn, seeing an increase of 4% compared to 2016 and carried 186.4 million passengers. It operates 1,500 flights a day to more than 335 destinations.

Delta has hubs in Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis / St Paul, New York, Salt Lake City, and Seattle in the US, as well as Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Mexico City, London in the UK, São Paulo in Brazil, Seoul in South Korea and Tokyo in Japan.

Headquartered in Atlanta, US, Delta operates a mainline fleet of 867 aircraft and employs more than 80,000 personnel globally.

United Continental Holdings- $37.73 billion

(c) Tim Fadek

United Continental Holdings (UAL) reported revenue of $37.73bn at the end of 2017, which displays a 3.2% increase compared to the previous year with the airline serving more than 148 million passengers.

Established by the merge of United Airlines and Continental Airlines in May 2010, UAL operates more than 4,500 flights a day to 354 destinations worldwide. The airline’s fleet comprises 1,295 aircraft, including 545 aircraft operated by United’s regional carriers. The airline is based in Chicago, US.

Air France-KLM- $29.06 billion

(c) Christian Hartmann

In 2017 Air France-KLM generated revenues of €25.78bn ($29.06bn), seeing an increase of 3.8% from 2016, with a total of 98.7 million passengers travelled with the airline.

Formed in 2004 through a merger between Air France and KLM, the airline currently operates 552 aircraft and employs 80,595 staff across the world.

Air France-KLM serves 314 destinations in 116 countries through more than 80 strategic partners and it’s five operating brands: Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Transavia, Joon, and HOP!

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Luke Willmoth
ByLuke Will
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Chief Executive Officer - Luke founded Travel Radar in 2015, transforming it from a passion project into a leading independent media publication. With a vision for storytelling and innovation, he continues to shape its success in the travel industry.
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