Overview
Since the first aircraft was built by the Wright brothers in 1903, 150,000+ planes have been built, with ~90,000 currently operational worldwide. They include planes for military (~54,000), research, recreation, private, businesses (mining, farming etc), commercial cargo, and commercial passenger travel.
There are ~29,000 active commercial passenger planes, making ~120,000 daily flights, and carrying more than five billion passengers each year. At any time of day or night there are 10,000+ planes flying on Earth's atmosphere.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, a UN body) includes more than 5,000 airlines from 193 countries, while the International Air Transport Association (IATA, an airlines cartel) includes more than 1,100 commercial airlines. Most airlines are domestic or low-cost carriers. Yet, there are ~100 airlines that are global, i.e. they offer many regular international flights and carry tens of millions of passengers each year.
At Bowing Travel, we specialize in airlines that offer long-haul international flights from/to Australia. This is a select league of ~30 airlines that are best and biggest in the world.
Top 10 Airlines, by Revenues
(US$ Billion per year)
- Delta: 54
- American: 52
- United: 49
- Lufthansa Group: 36
- Air France+KLM: 30
- Emirates: 29
- Southwest: 25
- IAG: 24
- Qatar: 21
- Turkish: 20
Top 10 Airlines, by Fleet Size
(number of active planes)
- Delta: 980
- American: 970
- United: 950
- Southwest: 820
- China Southern: 670
- China Eastern: 630
- SkyWest: 570
- FedEx: 500
- Air China: 490
- Turkish: 450
Top 10 Airlines, by Passengers
(million passengers per year)
- American: 220
- Delta: 210
- Southwest: 170
- United: 160
- China Southern: 152
- Ryanair: 150
- Lufthansa Group: 145
- China Eastern: 130
- IAG: 120
- Air China: 115
Top 10 Airlines, by Passenger-kilometers
(Billion Passenger-kilometers per year)
- American: 350
- United: 330
- Delta: 320
- Air France+KLM: 240
- Emirates: 230
- IAG: 220
- Lufthansa Group: 210
- Southwest: 200
- Turkish: 170
- Qatar: 160
Top 10 Airlines, by International Destinations
(countries flown to)
- Turkish: 125
- Qatar: 90
- Air France: 85
- Emirates: 81
- Lufthansa: 80
- British: 75
- United: 73
- KLM: 70
- Delta: 60
- American: 60
Skytrax is an independent rating body that publishes annual airlines rankings. They list ten airlines that have 5-stars rating, 62 airlines with 4-stars rating, and 157 airlines with 3-stars or lower rating.
APEX is another rating body, focusing on passenger experience. It publishes annual World Class awards for the best airlines globally.
At Bowing Travel, we accept only the best airlines for our clients and do not compromise on quality. We offer only flights from airlines having 5-stars rating, few with 4-stars rating, or Top-20 ranking.
Skytrax 5-Stars Airlines
(Alphabetical order)
- ANA
- Asiana
- Cathay Pacific
- EVA Air
- Garuda
- Hainan
- Japan Air
- Korean Air
- Qatar
- Singapore
Skytrax 4-Stars Airlines
(Alphabetical order, selected from 62)
- Air Canada
- Air France
- Air New Zealand
- Austrian
- British
- China Southern
- Emirates
- Etihad
- Ethiopian
- Finnair
- KLM
- Lufthansa
- Malaysia
- Oman
- Qantas
- Royal Brunei
- Saudi
- Swiss
- Thai
- Turkish
Skytrax Top Ten Airlines, overall 2023
- Singapore
- Qatar
- ANA
- Emirates
- Japan Air
- Turkish
- Air France
- Cathay Pacific
- Eva Air
- Korean
Skytrax Top 20 Airlines, First Class
- Singapore
- Air France
- ANA
- Swiss
- Emirates
- Cathay Pacific
- Lufthansa
- Japan Air
- British
- Korean Air
- Qantas
- Oman Air
- Etihad
- Garuda
- Saudi
- Thai
- Kuwait
- China
- Hawaiian
- Air China
Skytrax Top 20 Airlines, Business Class
- Qatar
- Singapore
- Emirates
- ANA
- Delta
- Virgin Atlantic
- Air France
- Hainan
- Cathay Pacific
- Etihad
- Turkish
- EVA Air
- Qantas
- Oman Air
- Japan Air
- British
- Finnair
- Swiss
- JetBlue
- Iberia
APEX Best Eight World Class Airlines, 2023
(Alphabetical order)
- Emirates
- Japan Air
- KLM
- Qatar
- Saudi
- Singapore
- Turkish
- Xiamen