American Airlines leads as the world's largest airline by passenger volume, carrying 275.5 million passengers annually, followed closely by other U.S. giants and global carriers.

This ranking highlights the dominance of North American airlines in total volume, driven by extensive domestic networks, alongside strong performers from Europe, Asia, and beyond. The data reflects recent industry performance amid post-pandemic recovery and growing demand.

Here's the complete list of the top 20 airlines by annual passengers:

The top four spots are held by U.S. carriers, accounting for over 960 million passengers combined, thanks to vast domestic markets and hub-and-spoke systems. American, Delta, Southwest, and United benefit from high-frequency short-haul flights within North America. This scale underscores America's role as the world's busiest aviation market.

Ryanair ranks fifth with its low-cost model serving Europe, while IndiGo's eighth place reflects India's booming aviation sector. Chinese airlines like China Southern and Eastern fill mid-tier spots due to massive internal demand. Low-cost European players easyJet and Wizz Air, plus network carriers like Lufthansa and Turkish, round out the list with efficient operations.

These figures capture total passengers across airline groups, including subsidiaries, for the latest reported year. U.S. airlines lead due to sheer volume from domestic travel, but growth in Asia - led by IndiGo and Chinese carriers signals shifting dynamics. Sources trace back to industry analyses like Visual Capitalist, with consistency across multiple reports.