The 20 Biggest Airlines in Europe for 2026 by Passenger Volume

Ryanair is the biggest airline in Europe by passengers. The discount carrier beat out both well-known flag carrier airlines like Turkish Airlines and SAS, as well as large groups like Air France-KLM, IAG, and Lufthansa Group. 

Key takeaways

• Ryanair is the biggest airline in Europe by passengers carried (206.6 million in 2025).
• Ryanair carried 71.6 million more passengers than Lufthansa Group in 2025; the gap between Europe’s two largest airlines is substantial.
• Pegasus Airlines grew the fastest: +35% from 2023 to 2025
• The only European airline to show a decline from 2023 to 2025 was TUI Group.
• Lufthansa Group has the largest fleet with 737 aircraft.

Biggest airlines in Europe by 2025 passenger numbers (in millions)

says Anton Radchenko, Founder & CEO of AirAdvisor.

Passenger rights based on airline and route

• EU261 compensation is up to €600 for EU departures and EU-carrier arrivals.
• UK261 compensation is up to £520 for UK departures and UK-carrier arrivals.
• For Turkish Airlines, Pegasus, and SunExpress, EU261 generally applies only when the flight departs from the EU, and UK261 generally applies only when flights depart from the UK.

Delayed 3+ hours on one of these airlines? Under EU261, you could be owed up to €600. Check the EU flight compensation rules. UK261 is only for UK departures.

Methodology for the biggest European airlines ranking

For our ranking, biggest means the most passengers carried (volume).

• Fleet size, revenue, and number of destinations are secondary.
• Passenger totals are based on the 2025 calendar year.
• Where an airline reports only fiscal-year figures, we use its fiscal year ending in 2025 and label it.
• The ranking includes both individual airlines, such as Ryanair and easyJet, and airline groups, such as Lufthansa Group and IAG. Groups combine passengers carried across several airline brands and are identified as such.
• We include airlines headquartered in EU/EEA countries, the UK, Switzerland and Turkey. We exclude Russian carriers such as Aeroflot, which are banned from EU and UK airspace since 2022.

1. Ryanair Group

With its number of passengers soaring to over 206 million in 2025, Ryanair is the hands-down biggest European airline and also the biggest low-cost airline in Europe. 

The Ryanair Group also includes Buzz, Lauda Europe, and Malta Air.

During the 2025-2026 fiscal year, Ryanair’s passenger traffic increased 4%. Ryanair is also investing US$22 billion for 210 new Boeing 737-8200 aircraft, with a further 300 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft expected by 2034. 

Ryanair is not the largest on other measures: Lufthansa Group has more aircraft (737 vs. 647), almost three times the revenue, and more destinations.

2. Lufthansa Group

The Lufthansa Group has 4 main airlines: Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines. Plus, it owns smaller ones like Eurowings and Air Dolomiti. Even with these “extra” airlines, it still takes second place to Ryanair.

Lufthansa Group passengers for 2025 were 135 million, which is up from 123 million in 2023, which is a 9.7% increase.

To further increase the Lufthansa Group's capacity, the company has a total of 20 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft set to start being delivered in the early 2030s.

3. International Airlines Group

With British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and LEVEL, IAG was able to grow its passenger load from 115 million in 2023 to 121.6 million in 2025 (up 5.7%).

To keep the passenger expansion going, in 2025, IAG ordered 71 long-haul jets, which were a combination of Airbus and Boeing models.

4. Air France-KLM

Although trailing other European airlines and groups in terms of passenger numbers, Air France-KLM still managed to increase passenger numbers significantly in 2025 compared to 2023.

This airline group includes Air France, KLM, and Transavia (France and the Netherlands).

In 2023, Air France-KLM’s passenger volume was 93.6 million, and in 2025 it was 102.84 million. That’s a 9.9% increase in just two years.

To support this passenger growth and maintain a modern fleet, as of August 2025, Air France-KLM has almost 200 aircraft on order, which amounts to a €2 billion investment yearly

5. easyJet

Although in fifth place overall, easyJet is the second-largest standalone airline brand after Ryanair. easyJet’s 93.4 million passengers in 2025 is a 4% increase from 2024 and a 12.5% increase compared to 2023 (83 million passengers).

With 359 total aircraft, easyJet is focused on upgrading to fuel-efficient aircraft, the Airbus A320neo and A321neo. In June 2026, the company took delivery of its 100th Airbus neo, and these planes offer a 20% lower fuel burn and CO₂ emissions per seat. The up to 50% noise reduction is also a plus.

6. Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines comes in 6th this year, though it was actually in 5th place based on 2023 data. easyJet has overtaken Turkey’s flag carrier on passenger numbers.

Turkish Airlines is technically an airline group that includes AJet, its low-cost brand.

To increase passenger capacity, Turkish Airlines plans to grow its fleet to more than 800 aircraft by 2033, its 100th anniversary.

7. Wizz Air

Compared to 2023, when Wizz passenger numbers were 60 million, in 2025, that’s up 14.33%. With a vision of eventually doubling the airline’s fleet to 500, during the 2025/26 fiscal year, Wizz Air hired more than 2,700 new employees to assist with growth.

8. Pegasus Airlines

As the second Turkish airline in our ranking, Pegasus saw the largest increase in passenger volume from 2023 to 2025: 35%. This was accomplished by expanding its fleet, route network, and low-cost focus.

9. SAS

In 2023, SAS Airlines welcomed 23.7 million passengers, and that jumped by 20.7% to 28.3 million in 2025.

To keep up with this demand, SAS announced its largest company investment yet on 30 June 2026, which was for 40 Airbus widebody aircraft. With a relatively small existing fleet of 111 aircraft, this will increase the company’s total fleet by just over 35%.

10. Norwegian Air Shuttle

Norwegian grew its passenger traffic by 32.5% from 2023 to 2025. 

Norwegian is constantly upgrading and increasing the fleet. Most recently, in September 2025, Norwegian ordered 30 new Boeing 737 aircraft.

11. Jet2.com

Compared to 2023, Jet2.com added more than 3.2 million passengers to its 2025 volume. That’s an increase of 19.3%. 

To keep the momentum going, over the next decade, Jet2 has 155 new Airbus A321neo aircraft on order.

12. Aegean Airlines

With mostly Airbus aircraft, the Aegean fleet is ever-expanding. It’s responsible for Greece’s largest private investment in 2018 of €5 billion for 42 A320neo planes.

For 2023, Aegean handled 15.7 million passengers; in 2025, that’s up 10.2%, and more than 1 million of those new passengers were added in 2024.

13. TAP Air Portugal

TAP Air Portugal has only shown a modest increase in passenger traffic from 2023 to 2025. In 2023, it was 15.9 million, but it’s still an upward trend of 5%.

And although the growth has been more limited, that hasn’t stopped TAP from adding 24 Airbus aircraft to the fleet by 2028.

14. TUI 

As part of the German TUI Group, TUI airlines have had a decline in passenger volume since 2023, when it was 19 million. But the company’s offerings are diverse. The €24.2 billion revenue stated above includes vacation packages, cruises, hotels, and flights.

15. ITA Airways

While not officially part of the Lufthansa Group, this giant does own a 41% stake in ITA Airways and has exercised its right to increase that ownership to 90% as of Q1 2027. The remaining share is held by the Italian government.

Up 8% in passenger volume from 2023 data, ITA operates an Airbus-only fleet. The goal is for the ITA fleet to be 80% next-generation aircraft by 2027, and in 2024, that number was already at 65%.

16. SunExpress

SunExpress, jointly owned by Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa Group, is another European airline that’s investing in growth. In 2023, they flew 12.6 million passengers, and in 2025, that’s 27% higher. 

That’s a sharp increase, and to keep up with the passenger demand, SunExpress CEO Max Kownatzki said in an 18 November 2025 press release:

17. Air Europa

Air Europa is another airline that moved up one place to #17 compared to 2023’s numbers. The jump in passenger volume was 16.8% for 2025 vs. 2023. 

To preserve this substantial increase, in November 2025, Air Europa signed a Memorandum of Understanding to purchase up to 40 new Airbus A350-900 aircraft to modernise and grow its fleet.

18. Finnair

Finnair’s passenger volume hasn’t spiked like SunExpress or Pegasus. It was 11 million in 2023, 11.7 million in 2024, and 11.9 million in 2025.

According to Reuters, in 2026, Finnair has ordered 18 Embraer E195-E2 jets, favouring them over Airbus models. This move alone could increase the company’s fleet by 22%.

19. LOT Polish Airlines

LOT was #20 on our list of the biggest European airlines in 2023, but it climbed out of last place for 2025. That’s due to a steady increase from 10.03 million passengers in 2023 to 11.7 million in 2025 (growth of 16.7%).

20. Volotea

Falling one spot to last place in our top 20, Volotea grew 8.7% from 2023 to 2025, about the same pace as Finnair and well behind LOT (16.7%) and Air Europa (16.8%).

European airlines by fleet size

As you’ll see, the largest airline in Europe by fleet size is Lufthansa Group, followed closely by Ryanair:

Will Europe's biggest airlines keep growing in 2026?

European airlines are showing steady growth. In 2023, the total passenger volume from all 20 airlines was 954 million. In 2025, it was almost 1.07 billion. That's a 12% increase. 

Many of the biggest European airlines are continually making additions to their fleets, so we can only expect passenger capacity to increase in the coming years.

And with the extra volume can come increased opportunities for flight disruptions. If one of these airlines delayed your flight by 3+ hours or cancelled it, you could be owed up to €600 under EU261. Check your flight with AirAdvisor's compensation calculator.

Delayed or cancelled flight with one of Europe’s biggest airlines?Check your flight