LIST OF BEST AIRLINES IN THE WORLD. An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and/or freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which they both offer and operate the same flight. Generally, airline companies are recognized with an air operating certificate or license issued by a governmental aviation body. Airlines may be scheduled or charter operators.
The first airline was the German airship company DELAG, founded on November 16, 1909. The four oldest non-airship airlines that still exist are the Netherlands’ KLM (1919), Colombia’s Avianca (1919), Australia’s Qantas (1920) and the Czech Republic’s Czech Airlines (1923).
Airline ownership has seen a shift from mostly personal ownership until the 1930s to government-ownership of major airlines from the 1940s to 1980s and back to large-scale privatization following the mid-1980s. Since the 1980s, there has also been a trend of major airline mergers and the formation of airline alliances. The largest alliances are Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld, and these three collectively account for more than 60% of global commercial air traffic in 2015. Airline alliances coordinate their passenger service programs (such as lounges and frequent-flyer programs), offer special interline tickets and often engage in extensive codesharing (sometimes systemwide).
As of 2019, the largest airline by passengers carried and fleet size was the American Airlines Group, while Delta Air Lines was the largest by revenue. Lufthansa Group was the largest by number of employees, FedEx Express by freight ton-kilometers, Turkish Airlines by number of countries served and UPS Airlines by number of destinations served[9] (though United Airlines was the largest passenger airline by number of destinations served)
HERE IS A LIST OF BEST AIRLINES IN THE WORLD
Aeroflot
PJSC Aeroflot – Russian Airlines, commonly known as Aeroflot is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The airline was founded in 1923, making Aeroflot one of the oldest active airlines in the world. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the airline flew to 146 destinations in 52 countries, excluding codeshared services. The number of destinations was significantly reduced after many countries banned Russian aircraft
Air France–KLM
Air France–KLM S.A., also known as Air France–KLM Group, is a Franco-Dutch airlineholding company incorporated under French law with its headquarters at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Tremblay-en-France, near Paris. The group has offices in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris, and in Amstelveen, Netherlands.
| Website | www.airfranceklm.com |
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Air France–KLM is the result of the merger in 2004 between Air France and KLM. Both Air France and KLM are members of the SkyTeamairline alliance. The company’s namesake airlines rely on two major hubs, Paris–Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol respectively. Air France–KLM Airlines transported 87.3 million passengers in 2014.
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passenger mile. American, together with its regional partners and affiliates, operates an extensive international and domestic network with almost 6,800 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American Airlines is a founding member of the Northeast Alliance, and also a member of the Oneworld alliance. Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name American Eagle.
| Website | aa.com |
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American Airlines and American Eagle operate out of 10 hubs, with Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) being its largest. The airline handles more than 200 million passengers annually with an average of more than 500,000 passengers daily. As of 2021, the company employs 123,400 staff members
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (Chinese: 國泰航空), is the biggest airline in Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline’s operations and subsidiaries have scheduled passenger and cargo services to over 190 destinations and present in more than 60 countries worldwide including codeshares and joint ventures. Cathay Pacific operates a fleet consisting of Airbus A321, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A330, Airbus A350, and Boeing 777 aircraft. Cathay Cargo operates two models of the Boeing 747. Defunct wholly-owned subsidiary airline Cathay Dragon, which ceased operations in 2020, previously flew to 44 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region from its Hong Kong base. In 2010, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Pacific Cargo (then Cathay Cargo), together with Dragonair (then Cathay Dragon), carried nearly 27 million passengers and over 1.8 million tons of cargo and mail.
| Website | www.cathaypacific.com |
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The airline was founded on 24 September 1946 by Australian Sydney H. de Kantzow and American Roy C. Farrell. The airline celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016; and as of March 2021, its major shareholders are Swire Pacific, with a 42.3% stake and Air China, with a 28.2% stake.
In 2018, the Cathay Pacific group was the 19th largest airline group in the world ranked by traffic.
It is one of the founding members of Oneworld alliance.
China Eastern Airlines
China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (simplified Chinese: 中国东方航空公司; traditional Chinese: 中國東方航空公司), also known as China Eastern, is an airline headquartered in the China Eastern Airlines Building, on the grounds of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Changning District, Shanghai.
| Website | www.ceair.com |
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It is one of the “Big Three” airlines (alongside Air China and China Southern Airlines) of the People’s Republic of China, operating international, domestic and regional routes. Hongqiao airport, along with the larger Shanghai Pudong International Airport, are China Eastern’s main hubs, with secondary hubs in Beijing Daxing, Kunming, and Xi’an.
It is the second largest airline in China, in terms of passenger traffic, after China Southern Airlines. In 2021, its operation revenue is 67,127 million RMB. Its total asset is 286,548 million RMB. China Eastern and its subsidiary Shanghai Airlines became the 14th member of SkyTeam on 21 June 2011. The parent company of China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited is China Eastern Air Holding Company.
China Southern Airlines
China Southern Airlines Company Limited, also known as China Southern, is an airline headquartered in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and is the largest airline in China. Established on 1 July 1988 following the restructuring of the CAAC Airlines that acquired and merged a number of domestic airlines, the airline became one of China’s “Big Three” airlines (alongside Air China and China Eastern Airlines), the world’s sixth-largest airline measured by passengers carried and Asia’s largest airline in fleet size, revenue, and passengers carried. With its main hubs at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport, the airline operates more than 2,000 flights to more than 200 destinations daily and was a member of SkyTeam until 1 January 2019.
| Website | http://www.csair.com/en/index.shtml(in English) csair.com (in Chinese) |
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The airline started a frequent flyer program partnership with American Airlines in March 2019. The logo of the airline consists of a kapok flower (which is also the city flower of Guangzhou) on a blue tail fin. The company slogan is Fly towards your dreams (Chinese: 飞向您的梦想).
The parent company of China Southern Airlines Company Limited is China Southern Air Holding Company, a state-owned enterprise that is supervised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world’s oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along with its subsidiaries and regional affiliates, including Delta Connection, operates over 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. As of the end of 2022, it had 90,000 employees.
| Website | delta.com |
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Delta has nine hubs, with Atlanta being its largest in terms of total passengers and number of departures. It is ranked second among the world’s largest airlines by number of passengers carried, passenger-miles flown, and fleet size. It is ranked first by revenue for commercially owned airline companies, and 113th on the Fortune 500.
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second-largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried after ultra low-cost carrier Ryanair.[13][14] Lufthansa is one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance, formed in 1997.
| Website | lufthansa.com |
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Besides its own services, and owning subsidiary passenger airlines Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings (referred to in English by Lufthansa as its Passenger Airline Group), Deutsche Lufthansa AG owns several aviation-related companies, such as Lufthansa Technik and LSG Sky Chefs, as part of the Lufthansa Group. In total, the group has over 700 aircraft, making it one of the largest airline fleets in the world.
Lufthansa’s registered office and corporate headquarters are in Cologne. The main operations base, called Lufthansa Aviation Center, is at Lufthansa’s primary hub at Frankfurt Airport, and its secondary hub is at Munich Airport where a secondary Flight Operations Centre is maintained.
The company was founded as Luftag in 1953 by staff of the former Deutsche Luft Hansa that had been politically connected to the government of Nazi Germany and dissolved after World War II. Luftag continued the traditional branding of the German flag carrier by acquiring the Luft Hansa name and logo.
Emirates (airline)
Emirates (Arabic: طَيَران الإمارات DMG: Ṭayarān Al-Imārāt) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Etihad). Based in Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is owned by the government of Dubai‘s Investment Corporation of Dubai. As of 2019, it was also the largest airline in the Middle East, operating over 3,600 flights per week from its hub at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport. It operates to more than 150 cities in 80 countries across all continents (except Antarctica) through its fleet of nearly 300 aircraft. Cargo activities are undertaken by Emirates SkyCargo.
| Website | Official website |
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Emirates is the world’s fourth-largest airline by scheduled revenue passenger-kilometers flown, and the second-largest in terms of freight tonne-kilometers flown.
During the mid-1980s, Gulf Air began to cut back its services to Dubai. As a result, Emirates was conceived on 15 March 1985, with backing from Dubai’s royal family, with Pakistan International Airlines giving two of the airline’s first aircraft. With $10 million in start-up capital, it was required to operate independently of government subsidy. Pakistan International Airlines provided free training facilities to Emirates’ cabin crew at Karachi airport. The airline was headed by Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline’s present chairman. In the years following its founding, the airline expanded both its fleet and its destinations. In October 2008, Emirates moved all operations at Dubai International Airport to Terminal 3.
Hainan Airlines
Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd. is an airline headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, People’s Republic of China. The airline is rated as a 5-star airline by Skytrax. It is the largest civilian-run and majority state-owned air transport company, making it the fourth-largest airline in terms of fleet size in the People’s Republic of China, and the tenth-largest airline in Asia in terms of passengers carried, It operates scheduled domestic and international services on 500 routes from Hainan and nine locations on the mainland, as well as charter services.
| Website | www.hainanairlines.com |
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Its main base is located at Haikou Meilan International Airport, with hubs at Beijing Capital International Airport and Xi’an Xianyang International Airport and several focus cities.
International Airlines Group
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., trading as International Airlines Group and usually shortened to IAG, is an Anglo-Spanish multinational airline holding company with its registered office in Madrid, Spain, and its corporate headquarters in London, England. It was formed in January 2011 after a merger agreement between British Airways and Iberia, the flag carriers of the United Kingdom and Spain respectively, when British Airways and Iberia became wholly owned subsidiaries of IAG. British Airways shareholders were given 55% of the shares in the new company.
| Website | www.iairgroup.com |
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Since its creation, IAG has expanded its portfolio of operations and brands by purchasing other airlines – BMI (2011), Vueling (2012) and Aer Lingus (2015). The Group also owns the Level brand and Avios, the IAG rewards programme.
The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Madrid Stock Exchange. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and IBEX 35 Index.
Korean Air
Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. operating as Korean Air, is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations, and international flights.
| Website | koreanair.com |
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The present-day Korean Air was established on 1 March 1969, after the Hanjin Group acquired government-owned Korean Air Lines, which had operated since June 1962. Korean Air is a founding member of the airline alliance SkyTeam and SkyTeam Cargo. It is one of the 10 airlines ranked 5-star airline, and the top 20 airlines in the world in terms of passengers carried and is also one of the top-ranked international cargo airlines.
Korean Air’s international passenger division and related subsidiary cargo division together serve 126 cities in 44 countries. Its domestic division serves 13 destinations. The airline’s global headquarters is located in Seoul, South Korea. The airline had approximately 20,540 employees as of December 2014.[5]
The airline was once known as “an industry pariah, notorious for fatal crashes” due to its extremely poor safety record and is one of the world’s most dangerous airlines with a large number of incidents and accidents. The airline’s reputation has become less checkered as it has focused investment on improving its safety record including by hiring consultants from Boeing and Delta Air Lines Since 1970, 17 Korean Air aircraft have been written off in serious incidents and accidents with the loss of 750 lives. Korean culture has been cited by experts as a potential factor for the airline’s struggles with safety before the 2000s when the airline hired a former high-level employee with Delta Air Lines to reform KAL safety culture
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia and the country’s largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the second oldest airline still in operation, having been founded in November 1920; it began international passenger flights in May 1935. Qantas is an acronym of the airline’s original name, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, as it originally served Queensland and the Northern Territory, and is popularly nicknamed “The Flying Kangaroo”. Qantas is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.
| Website | qantas.com |
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The airline is based in the Sydney suburb of Mascot, adjacent to its main hub at Sydney Airport. As of March 2014, Qantas had a 65 per cent share of the Australian domestic market and carried 14.9 per cent of all passengers travelling into and out of Australia. Various subsidiary airlines operate to regional centres and on some trunk routes within Australia under the QantasLink banner. Qantas also owns Jetstar, a low-cost airline that operates both international services from Australia and domestic services within Australia and New Zealand; and holds stakes in a number of other Jetstar-branded airlines.
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporate branding segment. Ranked as a 5-star airline by Skytrax for the last three decades, it has also been ranked as the world’s best airline four times.
| Website | www.singaporeair.com |
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Singapore Airlines Group has more than 20 subsidiaries, including numerous airline-related subsidiaries. SIA Engineering Company handles maintenance, repair and overall (MRO) business across nine countries with a portfolio of 27 joint ventures including with Boeing and Rolls-Royce. Singapore Airlines Cargo operates SIA’s freighter fleet and manages the cargo-hold capacity in SIA’s passenger aircraft. Scoot, a wholly owned subsidiary operates as a low-cost carrier.
Singapore Airlines was the first to put the Airbus A380—the world’s largest passenger aircraft—as well as the Boeing 787-10 into service and is the only operator of the ultra long-range (ULR) version of the Airbus A350–900. It ranks amongst the top 15 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue passenger kilometers and is ranked tenth in the world for international passengers carried. Singapore Airlines was voted as the Skytrax World’s Best Airline Cabin Crew 2019. The airline has also won the second and fourth positions as the World’s Best Airlines and World’s Cleanest Airlines respectively in 2019.
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is an airline based in the United States and the world’s largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries. As of 2018, Southwest carried more domestic passengers than any other United States airline.
| Website | southwest.com |
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The airline was established on March 9, 1967, by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Co. and adopted its current name, Southwest Airlines Co., in 1971, when it began operating as an intrastate airline wholly within the state of Texas, first flying between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. It began regional interstate service in 1979, expanding nationwide in the following decades. Southwest currently serves airports in 42 states and multiple Central American destinations.
Southwest’s business model is distinct from other US airlines as it uses a rolling hub and point-to-point network and allows free checked baggage. It exclusively uses Boeing 737 jets in its fleet.
The airline has nearly 66,100 employees and operates about 4,000 departures a day during peak travel season.
Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines or officially Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı is the flag carrier of Turkey. As of 2022, it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the world by number of passenger destinations. The airline serves more destinations non-stop from a single airport than any other airline in the world and flies to 126 countries, more than any other airline. With an operational fleet of 24 cargo aircraft, the airline’s cargo division Turkish Cargo serves 82 destinations.
| Website | www.turkishairlines.com |
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The airline’s corporate headquarters are at the Turkish Airlines General Management Building on the grounds of Istanbul Atatürk Airport in Yeşilköy, Bakırköy, Istanbul. Istanbul Airport in Arnavutköy is the airline’s main base, and there are secondary hubs at Ankara Esenboğa Airport and Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport. Turkish Airlines has been a member of the Star Alliance network since 1 April 2008.
United Airlines Holdings
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as United Continental Holdings, Inc., UAL Corporation, Allegis Corporation and founded originally as UAL, Inc.) is a publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in the Willis Tower in Chicago. UAH owns and operates United Airlines, Inc.
| Website | ir.united.com |
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UAL Corporation agreed to change its name to United Continental Holdings in May 2010, when an agreement was reached between United and Continental Airlines where United would acquire Continental. To effect the acquisition, Continental shareholders received 1.05 shares of UAL stock for each Continental share; at the time of closing, it was estimated that United shareholders owned 55% of the merged entity and Continental shareholders owned 45%. The company or its subsidiary airlines also have several other subsidiaries. Once completely combined, United became the world’s largest airline, as measured by revenue passenger miles. United is a founding member of the Star Alliance.
UAH has major operations at Chicago–O’Hare, Denver, Guam, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Newark (New Jersey), San Francisco, and Washington–Dulles. Additionally, UAH’s United is the largest U.S. carrier to the People’s Republic of China and maintains a large operation throughout Asia.
UAH uses Continental’s operating certificate and United’s repair station certificate, having been approved by the FAA on November 30, 2011.
On June 27, 2019, the name of the parent company was changed from United Continental Holdings to United Airlines Holdings.
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