World's biggest airlines rankings: Jul-2011
Delta Air Lines remains by far the world's leading carrier, in terms of systemwide capacity (ASKs) per week. But Emirates and Lufthansa have surged ahead of Continental Airlines, which drops out of the top five, with 8.1% and 11.9% year-on-year increases in capacity this month, respectively. Continental is trimming its ASKs by 0.2% this month.
- Delta Air Lines remains the world's leading carrier in terms of systemwide capacity.
- Emirates and Lufthansa have surpassed Continental Airlines in capacity growth.
- United-Continental, when combined, has a greater capacity than Delta.
- Worldwide airlines have scheduled a 5.4% increase in seats and a 6.8% increase in ASKs for July 2011 compared to the same month in 2010.
- Southwest Airlines has moved ahead of Air France to become the seventh largest carrier globally.
- Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways have experienced significant capacity growth, while Air Canada's growth has been slow.
However, based on Jul-2011 data, the combined ASKs of United-Continental is some 3.2% greater than Delta's (including the regional services operated by other carriers but marketed by the majors), thereby ranking it largest.
See related report: Global LCC Rankings: Jun-2011. Unaligned carriers and LCCs gain greater share of global aviation
The world's airlines are scheduling some 5.4% more seats this July than the same month in 2010, translating into a 6.8% increase in ASKs. These are the same increases in capacity that were witnessed in Jun-2011.
Worldwide capacity: Jul-2010 vs Jul-2011*
| Jul-2010 | Jul-2011 | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Total Flights per Week | 601,246 | 623,735 | 3.7% |
| Grand Total Seats per Week | 75,342,114 | 79,409,230 | 5.4% |
| Grand Total ASKs per Week | 130,021,994,958 | 138,918,741,062 | 6.8% |
Top 25 movers
But there are changes at the top. Southwest Airlines (with a 7.4% capacity increase) moves ahead of Air France as the seventh biggest carrier worldwide, while Ryanair and China Southern Airlines have also each gained a place at the expense of the slow-growing Air Canada. Korean Air moves ahead of All Nippon Airways with a 12% capacity lift this month year-on-year.
Turkish Airlines remains the fastest-growing carrier in the Top 25, with a near 28% year-on-year surge in capacity, while Qatar Airways' moderation in capacity growth was another notable feature this month.
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Global Top 25 Airlines by capacity per week (ASK) - Jul-2010 vs Jul-2011*
| Airline | Jul-10 | Jul-11 | % Change | World Ranking | Variance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul-10 | Jul-11 | |||||
| Delta Air Lines | 8,201,204,608 | 8,285,811,997 | 1.0% | 1 | 1 | - |
| American Airlines | 5,450,643,709 | 5,634,286,801 | 3.4% | 2 | 2 | - |
| United Airlines | 4,735,983,563 | 4,773,244,479 | 0.8% | 3 | 3 | - |
| Emirates | 3,633,389,885 | 3,926,339,982 | 8.1% | 5 | 4 | +1 |
| Lufthansa | 3,407,384,500 | 3,813,761,807 | 11.9% | 6 | 5 | +1 |
| Continental Airlines | 3,786,018,459 | 3,777,146,669 | -0.2% | 4 | 6 | -2 |
| Southwest Airlines | 3,245,539,967 | 3,486,483,553 | 7.4% | 8 | 7 | +1 |
| Air France | 3,271,334,795 | 3,355,320,375 | 2.6% | 7 | 8 | -1 |
| British Airways | 2,991,385,551 | 3,125,598,973 | 4.5% | 9 | 9 | - |
| US Airways | 2,937,868,958 | 2,997,177,839 | 2.0% | 10 | 10 | - |
| Ryanair | 2,292,204,222 | 2,567,051,067 | 12.0% | 12 | 11 | +1 |
| China Southern Airlines | 2,264,561,554 | 2,425,526,822 | 7.1% | 13 | 12 | +1 |
| Air Canada | 2,313,033,655 | 2,367,373,939 | 2.3% | 11 | 13 | -2 |
| Cathay Pacific
|
2,159,045,379 | 2,359,363,114 | 9.3% | 14 | 14 | - |
| Singapore Airlines | 2,040,861,641 | 2,192,025,696 | 7.4% | 15 | 15 | - |
| Air China | 2,012,159,237 | 2,080,572,669 | 3.4% | 16 | 16 | - |
| Qantas Airways | 1,954,495,324 | 2,020,999,180 | 3.4% | 17 | 17 | - |
| KLM | 1,853,994,125 | 1,955,633,659 | 5.5% | 18 | 18 | - |
| China Eastern Airlines | 1,787,972,574 | 1,903,962,399 | 6.5% | 19 | 19 | - |
| Korean Air
|
1,634,739,915 | 1,830,995,106 | 12.0% | 21 | 20 | +1 |
| All Nippon Airways | 1,652,940,730 | 1,789,753,471 | 8.3% | 20 | 21 | -1 |
| Turkish Airlines | 1,315,685,243 | 1,682,563,774 | 27.9% | n/a | 22 | n/a |
| Thai Airways | 1,466,252,487 | 1,588,956,991 | 8.4% | 23 | 23 | - |
| TAM | 1,426,336,218 | 1,563,678,500 | 9.6% | n/a | 24 | n/a |
| Qatar Airways | 1,501,250,022 | 1,561,531,848 | 4.0% | 22 | 25 | -3 |
| GRAND TOTAL | 69,336,286,322 | 73,065,160,709 | 5.4% | |||