The most profitable airlines in the world today are Emirates, Delta Air Lines, International Airlines Group (IAG), United Airlines and Turkish Airlines. Emirates leads with a net profit of about US$5.19 billion for its year to March 2025, while Delta tops the US with US$5.0 billion in 2025. This list uses each airline’s latest full-year net profit.
The earlier version of this article relied on 2018 figures and also counted FedEx, which is a logistics company rather than a passenger airline. Airline finances have changed a lot since then. The pandemic wiped out profits in 2020 and 2021, and the industry has since recovered strongly, so we have rebuilt the ranking with recent numbers.
How we ranked the most profitable airlines in the world
We used net profit (net income), which is what is left after costs, interest and tax. Revenue alone does not tell you how profitable an airline is. Some carriers report in US dollars, some in euros and Emirates reports in UAE dirhams, so small differences between ranks depend on exchange rates.
Figures are taken from the airlines’ reported annual results as summarised on their Wikipedia pages. Calendar year 2025 is used where available. Emirates uses a financial year that ends on 31 March.
Quick facts: top 5 at a glance
| Rank | Airline | Base | Latest net profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emirates | Dubai, UAE | US$5.19 billion (year to March 2025) |
| 2 | Delta Air Lines | Atlanta, USA | US$5.0 billion (2025) |
| 3 | International Airlines Group | London and Madrid | 3.34 billion euros (2025) |
| 4 | United Airlines | Chicago, USA | US$3.4 billion (2025) |
| 5 | Turkish Airlines | Istanbul, Turkey | US$2.9 billion (2025) |
1. Emirates
Emirates is based at Al Garhoud in Dubai and flies from Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport. It was founded in March 1985 and started flying in October that year. It is not part of any of the three big alliances, Star Alliance, SkyTeam or Oneworld, and instead works through codeshare and interline deals.
For the year ended 31 March 2025, Emirates reported a net profit of AED 19.0 billion, about US$5.19 billion, on revenue of about US$34.83 billion. That was up from AED 17.2 billion the year before.
2. Delta Air Lines
Delta, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 1928 as Delta Air Service. It is a founding pillar of the SkyTeam alliance and runs nine US hubs, including Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Seattle and both New York JFK and LaGuardia.
Delta earned US$5.0 billion in net income in 2025 on revenue of US$63.4 billion. Its profit had dipped to US$3.5 billion in 2024 from US$4.6 billion in 2023, so 2025 marked a clear bounce back.
3. International Airlines Group (IAG)
IAG was formed on 21 January 2011 when British Airways and Iberia completed their merger. Its registered office is in Madrid and its corporate headquarters is in London. Today the group also owns Aer Lingus, Vueling and LEVEL, along with the Avios loyalty business and IAG Cargo.
IAG reported a net profit of 3.342 billion euros in 2025 on revenue of 33.2 billion euros, with operating profit of about 5.0 billion euros. That compares with roughly 2.7 billion euros in 2024 and 2.6 billion euros in 2023. Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange, with secondary listings in Spain, and it is part of both the FTSE 100 and IBEX 35 indices.
4. United Airlines
United is headquartered in the Willis Tower in Chicago and is a member of Star Alliance. It runs eight hubs, including Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Houston, Newark, San Francisco and Washington Dulles.
United reported net income of about US$3.4 billion in 2025 on revenue of about US$59 billion. That is up from US$3.1 billion in 2024 and US$2.6 billion in 2023, a steady climb that has narrowed the gap with Delta.
5. Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines, based in Istanbul with its main base at Istanbul Airport, has been a Star Alliance member since April 2008. It holds a Guinness record for flying to more countries than any other airline, and the airline says it serves 131 countries.
Its net profit was about US$2.9 billion in 2025 on revenue of about US$24 billion. Profit has come down from a peak of about US$6 billion in 2023, but it still ranks among the most profitable airlines in the world.
What happened to the airlines on the old list
Southwest Airlines: The Dallas low-cost carrier was fourth on the 2018 list. Its net income has fallen sharply, to about US$441 million in 2025 on revenue of US$28.1 billion, which keeps it well out of the top five.
Lufthansa: The Cologne-based Star Alliance carrier now heads a large group that includes Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and a stake in ITA Airways. Group revenue was about 39.5 billion euros in 2025, but net income was about 1.3 billion euros, lower than the leaders.
FedEx: FedEx is a courier and freight company. Its airline arm carries parcels, not passengers, so it does not belong in a passenger airline ranking.
Ryanair: The Irish ultra-low-cost airline carried about 200 million passengers in its year to March 2025 and made a profit after tax of about 1.6 billion euros. That is a strong result for a budget airline, but still short of the top five.
Why these airlines make so much money
The leaders share a few traits. They run large international networks from big hubs, such as Atlanta for Delta, Chicago for United and London and Madrid for the IAG airlines. Several also own loyalty businesses, IAG’s Avios being one example.
Emirates and Turkish Airlines both run their whole network through a single main hub, Dubai and Istanbul, connecting passengers between continents. Size is not everything, though. Ryanair and Southwest carry huge numbers of people but earn much less per passenger.
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Frequently asked questions
Which is the most profitable airline in the world?
Emirates is the most profitable airline in the world on the latest figures, with a net profit of about US$5.19 billion for the year to March 2025. Delta is a close second at US$5.0 billion for 2025.
Which is the most profitable airline in the USA?
Delta Air Lines is the most profitable US airline, with net income of US$5.0 billion in 2025. United Airlines follows with about US$3.4 billion.
Is Ryanair more profitable than British Airways?
British Airways reports as part of IAG, whose 2025 net profit was about 3.34 billion euros. Ryanair made about 1.6 billion euros after tax in its year to March 2025, so the IAG group earns more overall.
Is any Indian airline among the most profitable airlines in the world?
No Indian airline features in the global top five by net profit. The leaders are carriers from the UAE, the US, Europe and Turkey.
Sources: Emirates (Wikipedia), Delta Air Lines (Wikipedia), International Airlines Group (Wikipedia), United Airlines (Wikipedia).
