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Biggest Airlines in the UK

Biggest Airlines in the UK - Top 5 Largest Carriers

Amy Lancelotte
Written By Amy Lancelotte
5 minutes read
Last Updated: January 21, 2025

Most people likely think that the largest airline in the UK is either easyJet or British Airways. And those people are correct. We reviewed 4 main categories to see which UK airline serves the most passengers and destinations, which earns the most revenue, and which has the largest fleet. The result? A tie.

After 4 different factors, easyJet and BA were tied, and the ultimate tie-breaker, the number of daily flights, resulted in an overall winner. We can confidently say that easyJet is the UK’s biggest airline with British Airways a very close second.

How did we arrive at these results? Read on to find out and see just how close the other 3 airlines are in the top 5 ranking.

Largest UK Airlines 2025 - Air Advisor Ranking

Airline

Total Points (out of 20)

easyJet

18

British Airways

18

Jet2.com

11

TUI Airways

9

Virgin Atlantic

4

As mentioned, to break the tie, we reviewed the average daily flights of the top 2 carriers and easyJet came out on top by quite a margin (more on this later). Note that Virgin Atlantic scored the lowest in each category and Jet2 is the closest to challenging for a top place.

Biggest UK Airlines - Passengers

1st Place: easyJet

In 2023, easyJet transported over 82 million passengers, nearly double British Airways' total. Virgin Atlantic welcomed just over 5 million travellers on their planes, showing the significant discrepancy from the top of the list to the bottom.

Airline

Passengers Carried 2023

easyJet

82 million+

British Airways

43 million+

Jet2.com

16.22 million

TUI Airways

6 million+

Virgin Atlantic

5.3 million

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Largest UK Airlines - Fleet Size

1st Place: easyJet

The number of passenger (not cargo) aircraft owned and operated by a carrier is another good size indicator. Our winner for this factor is easyJet again. This airline has nearly 350 planes to choose from, which will generally translate to a better selection of flights for the public. 

The overall ranking for fleet size mirrors the passenger numbers ranking, which makes sense. More planes = a larger capacity to serve passengers.

Airline

Total Passenger Fleet Size

Effective Date (as of)

easyJet

347

September 2024

British Airways

253

January 2025

Jet2.com

117

January 2025

TUI Airways

67

December 2024

Virgin Atlantic

45

December 2024

Biggest UK Airlines - Annual Revenue

british airways plane

1st Place: British Airways

Another good indicator of an airline’s size is its total revenue. Using published 2023 numbers, we found that this is one category where easyJet is not the largest airline in the UK. That honour goes to British Airways with over £14 billion. 

With this metric, you really see the difference between a low-cost airline and a flag carrier. Although easyJet has more planes and more passengers, in 2023, the airline reported about a third of BA’s revenue at £5.2 billion. This significant difference can be attributed to things like operating inefficiencies, but it’s likely mostly related to easyJet’s lower fare prices.

warning

As a member of a larger airline company, we determined that TUI UK + Ireland was responsible for 27% of the TUI Group’s total business. As a result, their approximate UK revenue was £4.69 billion.

Other than the top 2 places, the remaining rankings stayed the same.

Airline

Reported 2023 Annual Revenue (billions)

British Airways

£14.3

easyJet

£5.2

Jet2.com

£5.03

TUI Airways

£4.69

Virgin Atlantic

£3.1

Largest Airlines in the UK - Destinations

1st Place: British Airways

A bigger destination list means more options for passengers and the wider the airline’s reach, the more useful it becomes to a larger selection of travellers. BA serves more than 200 worldwide destinations, whereas easyJet falls short due to its focus on short-haul flights predominantly in Europe. 

But easyJet is trying to give BA a run for their money. In November 2024, the airline announced an expansion with its first-ever Sub-Saharan route to Cape Verde. Ali Gayward, the UK Country Manager for easyJet commented:

quotes

Our continued growth and investment in the UK and the connectivity we offer our customers highlights the importance of the market for us, where this year we operated more flying than ever before. So with 21 new services now available from ten airports across the UK, our flights and holidays are available to even more new destinations next summer, providing customers with even more fantastic choice and great value.

TUI UK gains a place here with more available destinations than Jet2.com, and Virgin Atlantic remains at the bottom, with 35.

Airline

Destinations Served

British Airways

201 destinations, 79 countries

easyJet

165 airports, 35 countries

TUI Airways

100+

Jet2.com

75

Virgin Atlantic

35+

UK’s Biggest Airline - Average Daily Flights (Tie-Breaker)

easyjet plane on the tarmac

1st Place: easyJet

Since to this point BA and easyJet are dead-locked at winning 2 categories each, we used the average flights per day to decide on the overall winner. 

British Airways averaged 789 daily flights in 2023 according to Eurocontrol. EasyJet on the other hand nearly doubled that amount with an average of 1,477 flights per day during the same period. EasyJet’s month with the most flights in 2023 was August, with 54,246 total, which is a monthly average of 1,749 daily departures. They certainly keep busy!

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Which is the Largest Airline in the UK?

After analyzing all the data of the top 5 airlines in the United Kingdom, we can confidently say that easyJet is the country’s biggest. It serves the most passengers annually, has the most daily flights, and has the largest fleet. British Airways, an honourable second-place finisher, has the highest revenue (by a long way) and offers access to the most destinations (also by a long way).

Will this information affect which UK airline you choose for your next flight? And if you want to compare more numbers, check out our post on the top 10 biggest airlines in the world.

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