American Airlines remains the world’s largest airline by flight frequency, scheduling 171,121 flights this month, according to the latest data released by OAG. This commanding lead places American Airlines 38,808 flights ahead of its nearest competitor, Delta Air Lines.
While American Airlines leads in volume, the industry is witnessing a significant shift in growth trajectories, particularly within Asia. China Southern Airlines (+11.4%) and Air China (+8.0%) have emerged as the fastest-growing carriers by capacity year-on-year.
Conversely, several legacy carriers are experiencing a pullback. Five major airlines reported capacity declines this month:
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Deutsche Lufthansa: -8.6%
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IndiGo: -1.5%
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Japan Airlines: -1.4%
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British Airways: -0.9%
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All Nippon Airways: -0.9%
In the international sector, Emirates continues to dominate. Measured by Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs), Emirates is the largest international airline globally, projected to operate 29.7 billion ASKs this month—outperforming Qatar Airways by a staggering 49%.
High-growth leaders in the ASK metric include:
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Etihad Airways: +24.7%
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China Southern Airlines: +23.1%
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China Eastern Airlines: +20.3%
Notably, Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the only carrier among the Top 20 to see a decline in international ASKs, dropping 3.8% to 10.1 billion.
The United States remains the world’s premier domestic market with 77.5 million scheduled seats. However, China is narrowing the gap, fueled by the timing of the Lunar New Year. “The shift of Chinese New Year from January 29 last year to February 17 this year has moved peak domestic demand squarely into February,” the OAG report noted.
This calendar shift resulted in the Chinese domestic market adding 4.9 million seats (+7.4%) compared to February 2025.
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Vietnam recorded the highest domestic growth rate globally, with a 14.5% increase in seats year-on-year.
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Japan remains the outlier among the Top 10 domestic markets, seeing a capacity contraction of 2% (down to 10.5 million seats).
