Busiest airlines, September 2023

167,416 flights, American Airlines (AA)

The busiest airline in September 2023 was American Airlines (AA), with 167,416 flights.

September 2023 (1–30 September 2023) Source: www.airportia.com/statistics/busiest-airlines/2023-09/

Period: 1–30 September 2023 (UTC). Data calculated on 3 November 2026 at 04:00 UTC. In the average departure delay, early and cancelled flights count as 0. How we calculate this

Top 15 airlines by flights
Busiest airlines, September 2023: top 15, flights1–30 September 2023. Source: Airportia.1. American Airlines (AA): 167,416 (167,416 flights)1. American Airlines (AA)167,4162. Delta Air Lines (DL): 138,460 (138,460 flights)2. Delta Air Lines (DL)138,4603. United Airlines (UA): 129,829 (129,829 flights)3. United Airlines (UA)129,8294. Southwest Airlines (WN): 119,697 (119,697 flights)4. Southwest Airlines (WN)119,6975. Ryanair (FR): 93,634 (93,634 flights)5. Ryanair (FR)93,6346. China Eastern Airlines (MU): 69,370 (69,370 flights)6. China Eastern Airlines (MU)69,3707. China Southern Airlines (CZ): 65,641 (65,641 flights)7. China Southern Airlines (CZ)65,6418. IndiGo Airlines (6E): 57,563 (57,563 flights)8. IndiGo Airlines (6E)57,5639. easyJet (U2): 53,735 (53,735 flights)9. easyJet (U2)53,73510. Air China (CA): 49,948 (49,948 flights)10. Air China (CA)49,94811. Turkish Airlines (TK): 47,498 (47,498 flights)11. Turkish Airlines (TK)47,49812. LATAM Airlines (LA): 42,692 (42,692 flights)12. LATAM Airlines (LA)42,69213. Lufthansa (LH): 38,768 (38,768 flights)13. Lufthansa (LH)38,76814. Alaska Airlines (AS): 35,666 (35,666 flights)14. Alaska Airlines (AS)35,66615. All Nippon Airways (NH): 35,604 (35,604 flights)15. All Nippon Airways (NH)35,604

Every airline with at least one flight in the period and reported departure times is included.

Full ranking: 707 airlines

The first 100 are shown here; the CSV has all 707.

# Airline Country Flights Avg departure delay Cancelled Flights
1 American Airlines (AA) United States United States 167,416 32.1 min 1.4% 167,416
2 Delta Air Lines (DL) United States United States 138,460 26.7 min 1.5% 138,460
3 United Airlines (UA) United States United States 129,829 29.8 min 1.5% 129,829
4 Southwest Airlines (WN) United States United States 119,697 24.0 min 0.6% 119,697
5 Ryanair (FR) Ireland Ireland 93,634 28.5 min 0.2% 93,634
6 China Eastern Airlines (MU) China China 69,370 21.8 min 4.3% 69,370
7 China Southern Airlines (CZ) China China 65,641 27.4 min 1.2% 65,641
8 IndiGo Airlines (6E) India India 57,563 17.4 min 0.2% 57,563
9 easyJet (U2) United Kingdom United Kingdom 53,735 37.8 min 1.6% 53,735
10 Air China (CA) China China 49,948 25.2 min 1.9% 49,948
11 Turkish Airlines (TK) Turkey Turkey 47,498 21.4 min 0.5% 47,498
12 LATAM Airlines (LA) Chile Chile 42,692 13.5 min 0.6% 42,692
13 Lufthansa (LH) Germany Germany 38,768 29.4 min 2.0% 38,768
14 Alaska Airlines (AS) United States United States 35,666 23.6 min 0.3% 35,666
15 All Nippon Airways (NH) Japan Japan 35,604 13.6 min 0.8% 35,604
16 Air Canada (AC) Canada Canada 32,240 33.5 min 2.4% 32,240
17 JetBlue Airways (B6) United States United States 27,817 51.9 min 2.8% 27,817
18 British Airways (BA) United Kingdom United Kingdom 26,764 43.5 min 3.5% 26,764
19 Azul Brazilian Airlines (AD) Brazil Brazil 26,231 15.3 min 3.2% 26,231
20 Japan Airlines (JL) Japan Japan 25,354 19.0 min 0.5% 25,354
21 Air France (AF) France France 24,661 31.5 min 2.0% 24,661
22 Aeroflot (SU) Russia Russia 24,392 11.5 min 0.1% 24,392
23 Spirit Airlines (NK) United States United States 23,928 31.8 min 1.4% 23,928
24 Qantas (QF) Australia Australia 22,963 23.8 min 2.6% 22,963
25 Shenzhen Airlines (ZH) China China 21,818 28.6 min 5.0% 21,818
26 KLM (KL) Netherlands Netherlands 21,544 30.1 min 1.6% 21,544
27 Hainan Airlines (HU) China China 21,411 29.5 min 1.7% 21,411
28 SAS (SK) Norway Norway 20,903 21.2 min 1.0% 20,903
29 Vueling (VY) Spain Spain 19,713 23.3 min 0.1% 19,713
30 Sichuan Airlines (3U) China China 19,571 21.6 min 0.4% 19,571
31 Xiamen Airlines (MF) China China 18,713 23.4 min 1.6% 18,713
32 Iberia (IB) Spain Spain 18,596 23.0 min 0.1% 18,596
33 GOL Transportes Aeros (G3) Brazil Brazil 18,089 20.2 min 2.3% 18,089
34 Volaris (Y4) Mexico Mexico 17,917 17.0 min 11.1% 17,917
35 Eurowings (EW) Germany Germany 17,546 22.3 min 1.1% 17,546
36 Avianca (AV) Colombia Colombia 17,211 9.6 min 0.3% 17,211
37 Frontier Airlines (F9) United States United States 17,142 36.3 min 1.7% 17,142
38 Pegasus Airlines (PC) Turkey Turkey 16,780 30.3 min 0.0% 16,780
39 Qatar Airways (QR) Qatar Qatar 16,648 21.3 min 0.1% 16,648
40 Aeroméxico (AM) Mexico Mexico 16,229 33.7 min 0.1% 16,229
41 Shandong Airlines (SC) China China 15,319 22.4 min 0.8% 15,319
42 WestJet (WS) Canada Canada 15,191 23.9 min 2.2% 15,191
43 Lion Airlines (JT) Indonesia Indonesia 14,754 23.4 min 10.9% 14,754
44 Saudi Arabian Airlines (SV) Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 14,717 19.8 min 0.6% 14,717
45 Wizz Air (W6) Hungary Hungary 14,513 31.1 min 0.2% 14,513
46 Air New Zealand (NZ) New Zealand New Zealand 14,381 18.2 min 3.6% 14,381
47 Emirates (EK) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 14,273 27.9 min 0.0% 14,273
48 AirAsia (AK) Malaysia Malaysia 13,462 18.4 min 0.1% 13,462
49 Virgin Australia (VA) Australia Australia 13,456 26.8 min 3.5% 13,456
50 Air India (AI) India India 12,245 29.2 min 0.1% 12,245
51 Swiss (LX) Switzerland Switzerland 12,244 32.0 min 1.4% 12,244
52 Jet2.com (LS) United Kingdom United Kingdom 12,240 37.9 min 0.1% 12,240
53 VivaAerobus (VB) Mexico Mexico 12,011 22.1 min 0.3% 12,011
54 Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Ethiopia Ethiopia 11,762 13.2 min 0.0% 11,762
55 ITA Airways (AZ) Italy Italy 11,353 29.6 min 0.1% 11,353
56 Batik Air (ID) Indonesia Indonesia 11,260 22.3 min 15.0% 11,260
57 Austrian Airlines (OS) Austria Austria 11,105 18.2 min 0.7% 11,105
58 TAP Portugal (TP) Portugal Portugal 10,987 38.4 min 0.7% 10,987
59 Vietnam Airlines (VN) Vietnam Vietnam 10,711 20.7 min 0.0% 10,711
60 Juneyao Airlines (HO) China China 10,633 23.4 min 0.5% 10,633
61 VietJet Air (VJ) Vietnam Vietnam 10,370 30.1 min 0.1% 10,370
62 Tianjin Airlines (GS) China China 10,211 24.8 min 0.9% 10,211
63 S7 Airlines (S7) Russia Russia 10,173 6.7 min 0.3% 10,173
64 Aer Lingus (EI) Ireland Ireland 10,151 33.6 min 1.1% 10,151
65 Widerøe (WF) Norway Norway 10,095 4.8 min 1.5% 10,095
66 Jetstar Airways (JQ) Australia Australia 10,071 26.8 min 3.7% 10,071
67 Copa Airlines (CM) Panama Panama 9,745 19.1 min 0.0% 9,745
68 Malaysia Airlines (MH) Malaysia Malaysia 9,649 25.3 min 0.7% 9,649
69 Flex Flight (W2) Denmark Denmark 9,630 0.1 min 0.1% 9,630
70 Korean Air (KE) South Korea South Korea 9,427 23.3 min 0.1% 9,427
71 Wizz Air Malta (W4) Malta Malta 9,258 25.9 min 0.5% 9,258
72 Aerolineas Argentinas (AR) Argentina Argentina 9,214 18.1 min 0.3% 9,214
73 SunExpress (XQ) Turkey Turkey 9,181 34.0 min 0.1% 9,181
74 flydubai (FZ) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 9,139 13.7 min 0.4% 9,139
75 Philippine Airlines (PR) Philippines Philippines 9,092 19.3 min 2.0% 9,092
76 Thai AirAsia (FD) Thailand Thailand 9,034 13.3 min 0.1% 9,034
77 Aegean Airlines (A3) Greece Greece 8,938 29.9 min 0.1% 8,938
78 Vistara (UK) India India 8,926 26.7 min 0.1% 8,926
79 LOT (LO) Poland Poland 8,813 26.8 min 0.9% 8,813
80 Chengdu Airlines (EU) China China 8,577 21.9 min 0.9% 8,577
80 China Express Airlines (G5) China China 8,577 19.8 min 1.9% 8,577
82 Finnair (AY) Finland Finland 8,563 16.8 min 0.1% 8,563
83 Loong Airlines (GJ) China China 8,530 23.8 min 0.2% 8,530
84 Volotea (V7) Spain Spain 8,489 21.8 min 0.7% 8,489
85 Shanghai Airlines (FM) China China 8,472 23.5 min 0.7% 8,472
86 Singapore Airlines (SQ) Singapore Singapore 8,385 13.4 min 0.1% 8,385
87 Transavia France (TO) France France 8,159 24.6 min 0.5% 8,159
88 Capital Airlines (JD) China China 8,122 24.6 min 0.2% 8,122
89 CEBU Pacific Air (5J) Philippines Philippines 8,100 20.5 min 0.2% 8,100
90 Norwegian (DY) Norway Norway 7,935 13.2 min 0.3% 7,935
91 TUI Airways (BY) United Kingdom United Kingdom 7,676 35.4 min 0.3% 7,676
92 Southern Airways Express (9X) United States United States 7,669 26.3 min 0.0% 7,669
93 Allegiant Air (G4) United States United States 7,566 26.4 min 0.3% 7,566
94 Binter Canarias (NT) Spain Spain 7,565 7.7 min 0.0% 7,565
95 Spring Airlines (9C) China China 7,536 18.9 min 3.0% 7,536
96 Grant Aviation (GV) United States United States 7,509 1.6 min 0.0% 7,509
97 Citilink (QG) Indonesia Indonesia 7,493 29.2 min 0.0% 7,493
98 Airlink (4Z) South Africa South Africa 7,055 10.6 min 0.2% 7,055
99 China United Airlines (KN) China China 7,013 21.6 min 0.8% 7,013
100 EgyptAir (MS) Egypt Egypt 7,000 20.3 min 0.0% 7,000

Cite this

The busiest airline in September 2023 was American Airlines (AA), with 167,416 flights. Source: Airportia, "Busiest airlines, September 2023" (1–30 September 2023), https://www.airportia.com/statistics/busiest-airlines/2023-09/, retrieved 3 November 2026.

Download the data (CSV)

Free to use, including commercially, under CC BY 4.0 : credit Airportia and link to this page. How to use our data. Press and data questions: contact@airportia.com.

How we calculate this

Which flights count
Every flight in Airportia's schedule data (from the Aviation Edge feed) that was scheduled to depart in the period, counted once: code-share listings of the same flight are left out. Days are UTC calendar days.
Departure delay
The actual departure time (or the latest reported estimate when no actual time came in) minus the scheduled departure time. A flight that left early or on time counts as 0 minutes. A flight with no reported departure time, cancelled flights included, also counts as 0, so where the feed is patchy the average is lower than the real one.
Average departure delay
The mean of those delays over all counted flights in the period. It is not the share of flights more than 15 minutes late (the usual on-time measure), and it is about departures, not arrivals.
Why there is no "most punctual" ranking
Because flights without a reported departure time count as 0 minutes, a low average can mean missing data rather than punctuality, and the stored figures do not say how many flights had a reported time. So we only rank the most delayed, and the delay rankings leave out every airport, airline or country whose average delay is exactly 0, which almost always means that no times were reported.
Cancellations
Flights with the status Cancelled, as a share of the counted flights in the period.
Airlines
Flights operated by the airline, wherever they depart from. Cargo airlines are not included. They have their own ranking, Busiest cargo airlines.
Period
A month combines three 10-day periods: days 1–10, 11–20 and the last ten days of the month, weighted by departures. In a 31-day month day 21 is not included; in February the second and third periods overlap by a day or two.
Minimum sample
Every airline with at least one flight in the period and reported departure times is included.

Coverage follows the schedule feed: some regional airports and airlines are missing or report few actual times. These are Airportia's own figures, not official statistics from airports, airlines or regulators.