The world’s busiest airlines by flights: IndiGo is 8th, and growing fastest in the top 20
Counted by the number of flights it operates, IndiGo is the eighth-busiest airline on the planet — ahead of Air China, easyJet, Lufthansa and Emirates. Here is what the ranking measures, who leads it, and why a flight count is not the same thing as a big airline.
In short
- American Airlines operated 2,177,424 scheduled one-way flights in 2024, the most of any airline, according to OAG data published by Visual Capitalist.
- The top four are all US carriers — American, Delta, United and Southwest — together operating nearly 7 million flights.
- IndiGo is 8th with 749,156 flights, and its flight count grew 9.7% year on year, the fastest growth among the top 20.
- Ryanair (5th) is the busiest airline outside the US, flying almost twice as often as easyJet.
- Flight frequency counts departures, not passengers, seats or revenue — a network of short domestic hops scores highly even if each flight earns little.
If you rank the world’s airlines by how many flights they operate, an Indian carrier sits in the top ten. IndiGo ran 749,156 scheduled one-way flights in 2024, which puts it eighth in the world — ahead of Air China, easyJet, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Emirates.
The numbers come from the aviation data firm OAG’s Takeoff Airlines Ranking Report 2025, charted by Visual Capitalist. This post walks through what the ranking measures, who is at the top, and what it does and does not tell you about IndiGo.
What “busiest” means here
The ranking counts scheduled one-way flights — each departure is one flight. It does not count passengers, seats, distance flown or money earned. That matters: an airline that flies many short domestic routes will post a high flight count even if each aircraft is small and each ticket is cheap.
The top ten
- American Airlines (US) — 2,177,424 flights
- Delta Air Lines (US) — 1,713,537
- United Airlines (US) — 1,618,842
- Southwest Airlines (US) — 1,452,219
- Ryanair (Ireland) — 1,098,831
- China Eastern Airlines (China) — 872,723
- China Southern Airlines (China) — 828,452
- IndiGo (India) — 749,156
- Air China (China) — 622,505
- easyJet (UK) — 569,588
Places 11 to 20 run from LATAM (553,191) down to Emirates (172,445); the full table is on Visual Capitalist.
Why US airlines dominate
The United States is the world’s largest domestic flying market, and its big carriers are built around it. OAG reports that 82.6% of American Airlines’ 2024 capacity was domestic, and that American held 81% of airline capacity at its Dallas–Fort Worth hub. A hub-and-spoke network like that generates an enormous number of short connecting flights.
The gap to the rest of the world is wide. Southwest, fourth, flew about 32% more flights than Ryanair in fifth place.
Where IndiGo stands
IndiGo is one of four Asian airlines in the top nine, alongside China Eastern, China Southern and Air China. It is the only Indian carrier anywhere in the top 20.
More striking than the rank is the pace. OAG shows IndiGo’s flight count rising 9.7% in 2024 over 2023 — the fastest annual growth of any airline in the top 20. Air China was next at 8.1%. Most of the carriers above IndiGo operate in mature markets where growth is measured in low single digits.
That growth reflects India’s domestic market, where IndiGo is by far the largest operator, and a low-cost model similar to Ryanair’s: quick turnarounds and high daily aircraft utilisation, which let the same fleet fly more sectors per day.
What a flight count does not tell you
- Size of each flight: a short domestic hop and a 14-hour long-haul flight each count once.
- Money: a high flight count with low fares can still mean modest revenue.
- Profitability: neither the flight count nor revenue says whether the airline makes money.
Rank the same airlines by revenue and the picture changes sharply: IndiGo drops from 8th to 22nd among the world’s listed airlines. We look at that ranking, and why the two lists disagree, in the world’s biggest airlines by revenue in 2026.
For investors
IndiGo is run by InterGlobe Aviation, which is listed on the NSE and BSE — see InterGlobe Aviation on CAPITA1 for its price history and company details. A high flight count shows scale and market share; it is one input among many, and says nothing on its own about valuation or future returns.
This post explains a published ranking. It is not investment advice, and CAPITA1 is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser.
Frequently asked questions
Which airline operates the most flights in the world?
American Airlines. OAG counted 2,177,424 scheduled one-way flights for it in 2024, ahead of Delta (1,713,537) and United (1,618,842).
Where does IndiGo rank among the world’s busiest airlines?
Eighth, with 749,156 scheduled flights in 2024. It is the only Indian airline in OAG’s top 20, and its 9.7% growth over 2023 was the fastest of any airline in that group.
Is the busiest airline also the biggest airline?
Not necessarily. A flight count rewards many short trips. Passenger numbers, seat capacity and revenue can rank the same airlines very differently — IndiGo is 8th by flights but 22nd among listed airlines by revenue.
Why is Air India not in the ranking?
OAG’s table covers 20 major airlines, and Air India is not one of them — IndiGo is the only Indian carrier included. So the ranking says nothing either way about where Air India would place.