List of largest airlines in Europe
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The following is a list of the largest airlines in Europe by total scheduled and chartered passengers, in millions. The list includes companies classified as European by the IATA. The order of the chart and its completion goes only up to the year 2024.
| Country | Airline/holding | '25 | '24 | '23 | '22 | '21 | '20 | '19 | '18 | '17 | '16 | '15 | '14 | '13 | '12 | '11 | '10 | '09 | '08 | '07 | '06 | Fleet | Destinations | Sources | Alliance | Association |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ireland Malta Poland United Kingdom | Ryanair[a] | 206.6 | 197.1 | 181.74 | 160.4 | 72.4 | 52.01 | 152.4 | 139.2 | 128.77 | 116.8 | 101.4 | 86.4 | 81.40 | 79.61 | 76.4 | 72.7 | 65.3 | 57.7 | 49.0 | 40.5 | 430 | 186 | A4E | ||
 Germany Austria Belgium Italy Switzerland | Lufthansa Group[b] | 135.04 | 131.30 | 122.54 | 101.78 | 46.95 | 36.35 | 145.20 | 141.94 | 130.04 | 109.67 | 107.68 | 105.99 | 104.59 | 103.59 | 100.60 | 92.69 | 76.54 | 70.54 | 63.10 | 68.06 | 728 | 321 | Star Alliance | A4E IATA | |
United Kingdom Ireland Spain | International Airlines Group[c] | 121.56 | 122.05 | 115.56 | 94.73 | 38.86 | 31.3 | 118.3 | 112.92 | 104.83 | 100.7 | 94.9 | 77.3 | 67.22 | 54.6 | 51.7 | 50.6 | 53.3 | 59.8 | 61.7 | 63.2 | 520 | 248 | oneworld | A4E ERA IATA | |
 France Netherlands | Air France-KLM[d] | 102.84 | 97.96 | 93.57 | 83.32 | 44.67 | 34.1 | 104.2 | 101.45 | 98.72 | 93.4 | 89.8 | 87.4 | 78.44 | 77.45 | 75.8 | 70.8 | 71.4 | 73.8 | 74.8 | 73.5 | 574 | 231 | SkyTeam | A4E ERA IATA | |
| United Kingdom Austria Switzerland | EasyJet[e] | 94.91 | 86.51 | 82.8 | 69.7 | 20.4 | 16.09 | 103.3 | 88.5 | 81.63 | 74.5 | 69.9 | 65.3 | 61.33 | 59.21 | 55.5 | 49.7 | 46.1 | 44.6 | 38.2 | 33.0 | 300 | 136 | A4E | ||
 Turkey | Turkish Airlines[f] | 92.64 | 85.17 | 83.39 | 71.82 | 44.8 | 27.95 | 74.28 | 75.16 | 68.61 | 62.8 | 61.2 | 54.8 | 48.3 | 39.0 | 32.6 | 29.1 | 25.1 | 22.6 | 19.6 | 16.9 | 516 | 356 | Star Alliance | AIRE IATA | |
 Hungary United Kingdom Malta |
Wizz Air[g] | 68.59 | 62.69 | 60.31 | 45.66 | 21.71 | 16.67 | 39.80 | 33.81 | 28.27 | 22.78 | 19.2 | 15.8 | 13.5 | 12.0 | 11.2 | 9.6 | 7.8 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 168 | 144 | |||
 Russia | Aeroflot Group[h] | 55.34 | 55.3 | 47.3 | 40.7 | 45.81 | 30.16 | 60.7 | 55.7 | 50.13 | 43.4 | 39.4 | 34.7 | 31.4 | 27.5 | 16.4 | 14.1 | 11.1 | 11.6 | 10.2 | 8.7 | 336 | 189 | IATA | ||
| Turkey | Pegasus Airlines | 43.26 | 37.48 | 31.93 | 26.94 | 20.16 | 14.71 | 30.76 | 29.97 | 27.82 | 24.14 | 22.34 | 19.74 | 16.82 | 13.58 | 11.3 | 8.6 | 5.9 | 4.4 | - | 3.1 | 128 | 156 | IATA | ||
 Norway Sweden | Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA[i] | 27.25 | 22.63 | 20.62 | 17.84 | 6.19 | 6.87 | 36.20 | 37.34 | 33.15 | 29.3 | 25.8 | 24.0 | 20.71 | 17.69 | 15.7 | 13.0 | 10.8 | 9.1 | 6.9 | 5.1 | 88 | 130 | A4E | ||
Sweden Norway Denmark Ireland | SAS Group[j] | 21.1 | 17.87 | 10.19 | 8.81 | 29.8 | 30.0 | 28.37 | 29.4 | 27.1 | 27.3 | 25.56 | 25.32 | 24.7 | 23.1 | 22.8 | 27.0 | 27.2 | 26.9 | 134 | 124 | SkyTeam | ERA IATA | |||
| United Kingdom | Jet2.com | 20.52 | 19.50 | 17.32 | 15.53 | 3.17 | 2.85 | 14.39 | 12.17 | 9.70 | 6.72 | 5.85 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 4.78 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 90 | 50 | A4E | ||
| Germany Belgium Netherlands Sweden United Kingdom | TUI Group[k] | 20.2 | 20.3 | 19 | 16.7 | 2.02 | 2.02 | 26.0 | 33.7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 133 | - | A4E IATA | |||||||
 Greece | Aegean Airlines[l] | 17.3 | 16.33 | 15.46 | 12.5 | 7.19 | 5.17 | 14.99 | 13.97 | 13.22 | 12.46 | 11.6 | 10.2 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 9.9 | 10.1 | 10.2 | 11.3 | 11.1 | 10.1/ | 67 | 153 | Star Alliance | A4E IATA | |
 Portugal | TAP Air Portugal[m] | 16.7 | 16.1 | 15.9 | 13.76 | 5.83 | 4.66 | 17.05 | 15.89 | 14.27 | 11.72 | 11.3 | 11.4 | 10.7 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 9.1 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 110 | 88 | Star Alliance | A4E ERA IATA | |
| Italy | ITA Airways | 16.65 | 18.09 | 15.17 | 10.33 | 1.32 | — | 95 | 70 | Star Alliance | IATA | |||||||||||||||
| Turkey | SunExpress | 16 | 15.0 | 12.6 | 10.7 | 6.1 | 3.7 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 8.8 | 7.9 | 8.7 | 7.3 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 4.22 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 81 | 92 | IATA | ||
| Russia | S7 Airlines[n] | 12.8 | 12.9 | 15.9 | 16.03 | 17.83 | 12.35 | 17.9 | 15.96 | 14.25 | 13.15 | 10.6 | 10.1 | 9.3 | 8.3 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 4.9 | 100 | 121 | IATA | ||
| Spain | Air Europa | 12.2 | 11.74 | 10.03 | 5.04 | 4.26 | 13.13 | 11.84 | 10.6 | 10.6 | 10.2 | 8.1 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 9.7 | 9.9 | 8.1 | 59 | 44 | SkyTeam | IATA | ||
 Finland | Finnair[o] | 11.88 | 11.66 | 10.98 | 9.10 | 2.85 | 3.48 | 14.65 | 13.28 | 11.90 | 10.87 | 10.2 | 9.6 | 9.27 | 8.77 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 73 | 103 | oneworld | A4E IATA | |
| Poland | LOT Polish Airlines[p] | 11.7 | 10.7 | 10.03 | 9.3 | 4.2 | 3.59 | 11.79 | 10.61 | 8.5 | 6.89 | 5.58 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.71 | 91 | 120 | Star Alliance | AIRE IATA | |
| Spain | Volotea | 11.3 | 11.4 | 10.4 | 9.4 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 7.6 | 6.57 | 4.82 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 1.4 | — | 23 | 60 | A4E IATA | ||||||||
 Kazakhstan | Air Astana[q] | 9.7 | 9.6 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 6.62 | 3.70 | 5.12 | 4.32 | 4.19 | 3.75 | 3.86 | 3.77 | 3.68 | 3.24 | 3.06 | 2.57 | 2.20 | 2.30 | 2.13 | 1.47 | 63 | 132 | IATA | ||
| Germany | Condor | 9.6 | 8.5 | 8 | 7.0 | 9.4 | Part of Thomas Cook Group Airlines | IATA | ||||||||||||||||||
 Latvia | AirBaltic | 8.7 | 8.3 | 7.03 | 3.44 | 1.6 | 1.36 | 5.05 | 4.14 | 3.52 | 2.89 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.95 | 3.08 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.8 | - | 2.0 | 1.4 | 50 | 60 | A4E IATA | ||
| Russia | Ural Airlines | 8.4 | 9.52 | 9.41 | 8.49 | 9.20 | 5.60 | 9.62 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 6.47 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 47 | 66 | IATA | ||
 Czech Republic Hungary Poland Slovakia | Czech Airlines[r] | 8.3 | 5.2 | 2.53 | 1.8 | 9.6 | 8.8 | 8.17 | 7.3 | 6.57 | - | - | - | - | Part of Icelandair Group | - | - | 57 | ? | SkyTeam | A4E IATA | |||||
 Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan Airways[s] | 6.61 | 6.21 | 5.02 | 4.23 | 2.01 | 0.93 | 3.80 | 3.17 | 2.70 | 2.47 | 2.57 | 2.63 | 2.68 | 2.65 | 2.32 | 2.16 | 1.89 | 2.07 | 1.99 | 1.71 | IATA | ||||
| Russia | UTair Aviation | 6.40 | 6.06 | 5.54 | 7.12 | 4.90 | 8.09 | 7.65 | 7.3 | 6.65 | 8.8 | 11.2 | 10.4 | 7.8 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 3.23 | 2.93 | 2.42 | 66 | 117 | IATA | |||
| United Kingdom | Virgin Atlantic[t] | 5.85 | 5.58 | 5.10 | 4.28 | 1.08 | 1.17 | 5.74 | 5.40 | 5.22 | 5.20 | 5.77 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 40 | 37 | SkyTeam | IATA | |
| Spain | Binter Canarias[u] | 5.6 | 5.00 | 4.43 | 3.14 | 2.27 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.65 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.63 | 2.9 | 3.02 | 3.0 | ERA IATA | |||||
| Greece | Sky Express | 4.77 | 4.15 | 3.30 | 1.72 | 1.20 | 1.00 | 0.50 | 0.17 | 0.07 | — | 17 | 43 | ERA IATA | ||||||||||||
 Iceland | Icelandair Group[v] | 5.1 | 4.67 | 4.29 | 3.66 | 1.46 | 0.89 | 4.41 | 4.14 | 4.05 | 3.67 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 47 | 36 | A4E IATA | ||
 Serbia | Air Serbia | 4.57 | 4.44 | 4.19 | 2.75 | 1.59 | 0.87 | 2.81 | 2.48 | 2.61 | 2.62 | 2.55 | 2.3 | - | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 34 | 81 | ERA IATA | ||
| Russia | Nordwind Airlines | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 5.93 | 2.94 | 5.54 | 4.92 | 3.54 | 1.79 | 2.67 | 4.46 | 3.59 | 2.19 | 1.72 | 1.19 | 0.56 | 0.02 | — | 26 | 97 | IATA | ||||
 Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan Airlines | 4 | 2.9 | 2.25 | 0.87 | 0.57 | 2.60 | 1.89 | 2.29 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 32 | 57 | IATA | ||||||||||||
| Norway | Widerøe | 4.13 | 3.80 | 3.43 | 3.28 | 2.45 | 1.77 | 3.00 | ERA IATA | |||||||||||||||||
| Poland Ireland Switzerland | Enter Air Group[w] | 4 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.72 | 2.5 | 1.12 | 1.17 | 1.11 | 1.17 | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | — | 43 | 300 | |||||||
| Russia | Smartavia | 3.54 | 3.80 | 3.24 | 3.62 | 1.64 | 2.03 | 1.19 | 1.09 | 0.96 | 0.73 | 0.76 | 0.76 | 0.81 | 1.47 | 1.4 | Part of Aeroflot Group | 15 | 67 | IATA | ||||||
| Italy | AeroItalia | 2.92 | 2.36 | 1.08 | 0.07 | — | 13 | ERA IATA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Russia | Red Wings Airlines | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.72 | 2.21 | 3.00 | 1.54 | 3.07 | 2.62 | 1.62 | 0.92 | 1.04 | 0.92 | 0.35 | 0.82 | 0.78 | 0.88 | - | - | - | - | 18 | 20 | |||
| Portugal | SATA Group[x] | 2.70 | 2.40 | 1.92 | 1.28 | 0.67 | 1.71 | 0.89 | 0.99 | 0.86 | ERA IATA | |||||||||||||||
 Luxembourg | Luxair[y] | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.05 | 1.08 | 0.66 | 2.15 | 2.13 | 1.93 | 1.84 | 1.81 | 1.68 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 17 | 59 | A4E ERA IATA | ||||
 Ukraine Malta | SkyUp[z] | 2.5 | 1.55 | 1.08 | 2.57 | 1.25 | 1.71 | 0.44 | — | 14 | 64 | IATA | ||||||||||||||
| France Guadeloupe |
Groupe Dubreuil[aa] | 2.5 | IATA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Moldova Romania Armenia Uzbekistan |
FLYONE Group[ab] | 2.4 | — | IATA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denmark | Sunclass Airlines | Part of Thomas Cook Group Airlines | A4E ERA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Romania | TAROM | 2.02 | 2.30 | 1.99 | 1.5 | 0.90 | 3.3 | 2.80 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.91 | 1.45 | 25 | 50 | SkyTeam | IATA | ||
| Italy |
Neos | 2.28 | 2.26 | 2.20 | 1.57 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Russia | Azimuth | 2.27 | 2.47 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.09 | 1.22 | 1.25 | 0.67 | 0.07 | — | 11 | 31 | |||||||||||||
| Russia | Azur Air | 2.2 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 3.73 | 1.93 | 5.79 | 4.24 | 3.75 | 2.34 | 2.35 | 0.21 | Part of UTAir | 27 | |||||||||||
 Belarus | Belavia | 2.09 | 1.93 | 1.6 | 4.00 | 3.39 | 3.0 | 2.49 | 2.09 | 1.97 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 29 | 48 | IATA | |||||||||
 Croatia | Croatia Airlines | 2.04 | 1.84 | 1.73 | 1.45 | 0.79 | 0.62 | 2.18 | 2.17 | 2.13 | 1.94 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 13 | 40 | Star Alliance | ERA IATA | ||
| Norway | Norse Atlantic Airways | 1.84 | 1.47 | 0.98 | 0.30 | — | 12 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Moldova Romania | HiSky | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | — | |||||||||||||||||||
| Russia | Aurora Group[ac] | 1.7 | >1.5 | 1.35 | 1.16 | 1.07 | Part of Aeroflot Group | — | ||||||||||||||||||
| Malta |
KM Malta Airlines | 1.40 | — | IATA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | Loganair | 1.33 | 1.36 | 1.32 | 1.29 | 0.73 | 0.35 | 0.95 | 0.76 | 0.77 | 0.75 | 0.68 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 34 | 44 | ERA IATA | ||
| Russia | NordStar | 1.27 | 1.26 | 1.26 | 1.08 | 1.16 | 0.88 | 1.28 | 1.42 | 1.4 | 1.29 | 1.13 | 1.1 | 1.24 | 1.16 | 0.77 | 0.54 | - | — | 15 | 50 | IATA | ||||
| Russia | Yamal Airlines | 1.26 | 0.70 | 1.75 | 1.97 | 1.79 | 1.45 | 1.43 | 1.45 | 1.3 | 0.91 | 0.57 | 0.5 | 36 | 38 | |||||||||||
| Russia | Ikar | 1.1 | 1.72 | 0.76 | 2.16 | 2.02 | 1.38 | 0.99 | 1.08 | 1.24 | 0.28 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 29 | IATA | |||||
 Tajikistan |
Somon Air | 1.09 | 1.01 | 0.79 | — | IATA | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Russia | IrAero | >1 | 1.05 | 1.14 | 0.98 | 0.93 | 0.95 | 0.27 | 0.27 | |||||||||||||||||
| Russia | I-Fly | 1.13 | 0.75 | 0.4 | 0.61 | 0.97 | 1.05 | 0.63 | 0.41 | 0.38 | - | — | 10 | 30 | ||||||||||||
 Bulgaria | Bulgaria Air | 0.73 | 0.63 | 0.57 | 0.51 | 1.40 | 1.27 | 1.24 | 1.25 | 1.27 | 1.40 | 1.20 | 1.12 | 10 | 26 | IATA | ||||||||||
| Romania |
AnimaWings | Part of Aegean Airlines | — | 7 | 30 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Iceland | PLAY | 1.65 | 1.52 | 0.79 | 0.10 | — | 10 | 41 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Malta | Air Malta | — | 0.50 | 2.00 | 1.51 | 0.60 | 2.10 | 2.03 | 1.66 | 1.60 | 1.73 | 1.74 | 1.76 | 1.66 | 1.68 | 1.68 | 1.64 | 1.74 | 1.63 | 1.61 | 8 | 37 | ERA IATA | |||
| Ukraine | Windrose | 1.44 | 1.30 | 12 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- Includes Lauda Europe, Ryanair UK, Malta Air and Buzz.
- Includes Lufthansa (inc. Lufthansa Regional (inc. Lufthansa CityLine and Air Dolomiti)), Eurowings, Swiss International Air Lines (inc. Edelweiss Air), Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
- Includes British Airways (inc. BA CityFlyer), Iberia (inc. Air Nostrum and Iberia Express), Vueling Airlines, Level and Aer Lingus (inc. Aer Lingus Regional).
- Includes Air France (inc. Air France Hop and Transavia France) and KLM (inc. KLM cityhopper, and Transavia).
- Includes EasyJet UK, EasyJet Switzerland, and EasyJet Europe.
- Includes Wizz Air UK and Wizz Air Malta.
- Includes Rossiya Airlines and Pobeda.
- Includes Widerøe, Norwegian Air Norway and Norwegian Air Sweden.
- Includes Scandinavian Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines Ireland and SAS Link.
- Includes TUI Airways (formerly Thomson Airways), TUI fly Belgium (Jetairfly), TUI fly Germany (TUIfly), TUI fly Netherlands (Arkefly), TUI fly Nordic
- Includes Olympic Air.
- Includes TAP Express.
- Includes Citrus.
- Includes LOT Charters.
- Includes Air Astana and FlyArystan.
- Includes Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Atlantic International
- Includes Canarias Airlines and Naysa Servicios Aéreos
- Includes Icelandair and Air Iceland Connect.
- Includes Enter Air, Fly4 Airlines and Chair Airlines
- Includes Azores Airlines and SATA Air Açores
- Includes Luxair Luxembourg Airlines and LuxairTours.
- Includes SkyUp MT.
- Includes Air Caraïbes and French bee
- Includes FlyOne, FlyOne Airlines, FlyOne Armenia and FlyOne Asia.
- Includes Yakutia Airlines, Khabarovsk Airlines, Kamchatka Air Enterprise, Chukotavia, Polar Airlines, Taiga Airlines/Aviashelf.
See also
References
Further reading
- "Europe's Top 20 airline groups by passengers 2017; Lufthansa wrests top spot from Ryanair". CAPA Centre for Aviation. 21 January 2018.
- "Europe's top 20 airline groups by passengers 2023: Ryanair's lead is set to endure". CAPA Centre for Aviation. 28 March 2024.