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Which Airline Carries the Most Passengers in Europe?

16 May, 2024

5 min read

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Sharon Petersen

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Sharon Petersen

Sharon Petersen

16 May, 2024

Europe has some of the world's largest airlines, but have you ever wondered which ones are the biggest in terms of the number of passengers carried? As we move further away from the pandemic, the skies are beginning to refill with activity, so in this guide produced by AirAdvisor, we’re going to share the 20 biggest European airlines based solely on passenger numbers.

Haven't got time to read today? AirAdvisor have produced a simple infographic showing the 20 largest airlines by passenger number.

top 20 airlines in europe by passenger number

1: RYANAIR:

CountryIreland
Fleet size584 
Destinations40 countries in Europe, N. Africa, Middle East
With its number of passengers soaring to almost 182 million in 2023, Ryanair is the biggest airline in Europe. The airline has seen steady growth in recent years, expanding 13% since 2022, and this trend will likely continue thanks to the carrier’s investments in 300 new Boeing aircraft. Ryanair recently won third spot in our Airline Safety awards.

2: LUFTHANSA

CountryGermany 
Fleet size734 
Destinations300 in 100 countries
Lufthansa trailed behind Ryanair even before the Pandemic, and while it still hasn’t reached the 145 million passengers it had in 2019, they are still growing at a pace to surpass its passenger load from previous years. Since 2022, the airline has seen a 20% increase in passengers, and with its 4.5 billion euro investment in new planes, better lounges, and other customer-centric services, Lufthansa should continue to grow and pose greater challenges to its competition.

3: IAG

CountrySpain
Fleet size734
Destinations300 
With British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and LEVEL, IAG was able to grow its passenger load by 22% compared to 2022, ranking it as the 3rd largest airline in Europe. This year, the group has plans to bolster its passenger numbers by 7% through its continued efforts of acquiring other airlines as well as placing a greater focus on its loyalty program.

4: AIR FRANCE-KLM

CountryFrance, Netherlands
Fleet size522 
DestinationsOver 300
Air France-KLM still managed to increase passenger numbers by 12% from its 2022 total of 83.3 million. This year, the airline group is committed to adding destinations and renewing their Airbus fleet.

5: TURKISH AIRLINES

CountryTurkey
Fleet size365
Destinations340
While Turkey’s flag carrier, Turkish Airlines comes in 5th based on passenger numbers, the carrier is the largest mainline carrier on the globe serving 340 destinations. Compared to its 2022 passenger numbers, the airline grew by 23.5% in 2023 with a 16% increase in international flights. To maintain its upward trend, Turkish Airlines is planning to add 800 new planes by its 100th Anniversary in 2033

6: EASYJET

CountryUnited Kingdom
Fleet size336
Destinations1,024 routes, 36 countries, 155 airports
With a concerted move to larger planes, easyJet has already seen a substantial increase in its number of passengers. In 2023, easyJet flew 19% more passengers than it did in 2022. Going forward, they have plans to add new routes including Egypt, Iceland, and Finland as well as to build their fleet by adding 250 new Airbus A320neo aircraft.

7: WIZZ AIR

CountryHungary
Fleet size91
Destinations194 airports
In 2023, Wizz Air hired more than 1,400 new employees, with a large portion of this being crew members and they also were able to capitalise on 32 new Airbus planes flying to almost 100 new routes. Additionally, in 2022 the Hungarian carrier added a base in Romania and earned the title of Global and EMEA Environmental Airline Group of the Year by CAPA.

8: PEGASUS

CountryTurkey
Fleet size105
Destinations130
As the second Turkish airline in our ranking, Pegasus saw its passenger numbers grow by 19% over 2023 compared to the previous year. While this can be connected to the increasing number of people travelling, the carrier also achieved high numbers because of their intense efforts to get bigger and better. As with the other airlines we’ve mentioned, Pegasus was able to see this expansion thanks to its ever-growing fleet and network of routes with a firm concentration on international destinations. 

9: SAS

CountrySweden
Fleet size67
Destinations191
SAS Airlines has been working hard to support its competitiveness in its SAS FORWARD plan, and because of this, they realised a huge 48% increase in passenger numbers in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022. The carrier’s growth plans of adding to their fleet and improving efficiency was partly due to their Chapter 11 restructuring process, but over the last year they added new destinations and more flights

10: NORWEGIAN AIR SHUTTLE

CountryNorway
Fleet size129
Destinations105
Because of their enormous efforts in improving their efficiency as well as their overall passenger experience, Norwegian was able to increase their passenger numbers by 16% in 2023 compared to the previous year. With their new acquisition of Wideroe.

Head over to AirAdvisor to read about airlines 11 through to 20.

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