Busiest airlines, May 2026

185,100 flights, American Airlines (AA)

The busiest airline in May 2026 was American Airlines (AA), with 185,100 flights.

May 2026 (1–31 May 2026) Source: www.airportia.com/statistics/busiest-airlines/2026-05/

Period: 1–31 May 2026 (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, May 2026: top 15, flights1–31 May 2026. Source: Airportia.1. American Airlines (AA): 185,100 (178,276 flights)1. American Airlines (AA)185,1002. Delta Air Lines (DL): 143,602 (138,222 flights)2. Delta Air Lines (DL)143,6023. United Airlines (UA): 140,280 (135,021 flights)3. United Airlines (UA)140,2804. Southwest Airlines (WN): 109,663 (105,696 flights)4. Southwest Airlines (WN)109,6635. Ryanair (FR): 99,471 (95,913 flights)5. Ryanair (FR)99,4716. China Eastern Airlines (MU): 59,210 (57,130 flights)6. China Eastern Airlines (MU)59,2107. IndiGo Airlines (6E): 58,648 (56,554 flights)7. IndiGo Airlines (6E)58,6488. China Southern Airlines (CZ): 55,949 (54,023 flights)8. China Southern Airlines (CZ)55,9499. easyJet (U2): 45,472 (43,731 flights)9. easyJet (U2)45,47210. LATAM Airlines (LA): 43,963 (42,321 flights)10. LATAM Airlines (LA)43,96311. Air China (CA): 41,389 (39,976 flights)11. Air China (CA)41,38912. Alaska Airlines (AS): 38,232 (36,829 flights)12. Alaska Airlines (AS)38,23213. Turkish Airlines (TK): 33,858 (32,545 flights)13. Turkish Airlines (TK)33,85814. Air Canada (AC): 29,296 (28,268 flights)14. Air Canada (AC)29,29615. Lufthansa (LH): 28,625 (27,596 flights)15. Lufthansa (LH)28,625

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

Full ranking: 816 airlines

The first 100 are shown here; the CSV has all 816.

# Airline Country Flights Avg departure delay Cancelled Flights
1 American Airlines (AA) United States United States 185,100 29.7 min 1.4% 178,276
2 Delta Air Lines (DL) United States United States 143,602 24.0 min 0.7% 138,222
3 United Airlines (UA) United States United States 140,280 28.2 min 0.6% 135,021
4 Southwest Airlines (WN) United States United States 109,663 27.5 min 0.3% 105,696
5 Ryanair (FR) Ireland Ireland 99,471 19.4 min 0.2% 95,913
6 China Eastern Airlines (MU) China China 59,210 14.8 min 4.3% 57,130
7 IndiGo Airlines (6E) India India 58,648 18.3 min 0.3% 56,554
8 China Southern Airlines (CZ) China China 55,949 18.1 min 1.7% 54,023
9 easyJet (U2) United Kingdom United Kingdom 45,472 24.4 min 0.4% 43,731
10 LATAM Airlines (LA) Chile Chile 43,963 16.9 min 0.6% 42,321
11 Air China (CA) China China 41,389 16.0 min 2.8% 39,976
12 Alaska Airlines (AS) United States United States 38,232 22.4 min 1.0% 36,829
13 Turkish Airlines (TK) Turkey Turkey 33,858 22.2 min 0.2% 32,545
14 Air Canada (AC) Canada Canada 29,296 23.6 min 2.1% 28,268
15 Lufthansa (LH) Germany Germany 28,625 20.3 min 1.4% 27,596
16 Wizz Air (W6) Hungary Hungary 27,805 18.6 min 0.0% 26,734
17 All Nippon Airways (NH) Japan Japan 26,172 15.3 min 0.7% 25,304
18 Japan Airlines (JL) Japan Japan 24,942 15.5 min 0.8% 24,011
19 JetBlue Airways (B6) United States United States 24,305 23.8 min 0.1% 23,386
20 British Airways (BA) United Kingdom United Kingdom 24,022 29.3 min 1.3% 23,106
21 Qantas (QF) Australia Australia 23,168 11.2 min 1.2% 22,254
22 AirAsia (AK) Malaysia Malaysia 21,947 13.1 min 1.0% 21,151
23 Air France (AF) France France 21,781 22.9 min 0.5% 20,982
24 SAS (SK) Norway Norway 21,128 12.4 min 1.6% 20,323
25 Azul Brazilian Airlines (AD) Brazil Brazil 20,698 13.0 min 1.0% 19,943
26 KLM (KL) Netherlands Netherlands 20,532 21.5 min 0.6% 19,791
27 Avianca (AV) Colombia Colombia 20,519 16.0 min 0.4% 19,775
28 Aeroflot (SU) Russia Russia 19,472 13.1 min 0.9% 18,815
29 Hainan Airlines (HU) China China 18,817 15.1 min 4.8% 18,144
30 Vueling (VY) Spain Spain 18,183 21.2 min 0.1% 17,542
31 Shenzhen Airlines (ZH) China China 18,181 23.2 min 5.0% 17,545
32 GOL Transportes Aeros (G3) Brazil Brazil 17,912 15.9 min 0.5% 17,243
33 Air India (AI) India India 17,706 24.5 min 0.3% 17,071
34 Frontier Airlines (F9) United States United States 17,634 27.7 min 0.2% 16,985
35 Pegasus Airlines (PC) Turkey Turkey 17,397 17.5 min 0.1% 16,749
36 Iberia (IB) Spain Spain 17,118 21.0 min 0.5% 16,489
37 Xiamen Airlines (MF) China China 16,052 16.1 min 3.7% 15,500
38 Shandong Airlines (SC) China China 15,797 15.9 min 3.1% 15,236
39 WestJet (WS) Canada Canada 15,774 17.4 min 0.9% 15,195
40 Spring Airlines (9C) China China 15,708 18.4 min 0.7% 15,164
41 Eurowings (EW) Germany Germany 15,678 21.1 min 0.3% 15,099
42 Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Ethiopia Ethiopia 14,748 26.1 min 0.7% 14,216
43 Sichuan Airlines (3U) China China 14,357 12.0 min 4.4% 13,856
44 Transavia (HV) Netherlands Netherlands 14,064 24.1 min 0.2% 13,489
45 Volaris (Y4) Mexico Mexico 13,888 14.1 min 0.0% 13,389
46 Qatar Airways (QR) Qatar Qatar 13,826 21.2 min 0.4% 13,289
47 Norwegian (DY) Norway Norway 13,027 12.7 min 0.3% 12,478
48 Jet2.com (LS) United Kingdom United Kingdom 12,874 30.9 min 0.0% 12,370
49 Saudi Arabian Airlines (SV) Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 12,792 14.5 min 0.7% 12,265
50 CEBU Pacific Air (5J) Philippines Philippines 12,769 17.2 min 0.8% 12,321
51 Air New Zealand (NZ) New Zealand New Zealand 12,698 12.5 min 1.1% 12,204
52 Emirates (EK) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 12,619 24.1 min 0.1% 12,170
53 Jetstar Airways (JQ) Australia Australia 12,153 22.6 min 0.6% 11,709
54 Virgin Australia (VA) Australia Australia 12,108 14.5 min 0.5% 11,611
55 VivaAerobus (VB) Mexico Mexico 11,912 17.4 min 0.2% 11,485
56 Air India Express (IX) India India 11,834 29.3 min 0.6% 11,412
57 Korean Air (KE) South Korea South Korea 11,649 18.4 min 0.0% 11,234
58 Copa Airlines (CM) Panama Panama 11,447 16.5 min 0.1% 11,040
59 Cathay Pacific (CX) Hong Kong Hong Kong 11,388 34.4 min 0.1% 10,966
60 Aeroméxico (AM) Mexico Mexico 11,266 23.2 min 0.2% 10,873
61 Vietnam Airlines (VN) Vietnam Vietnam 11,077 11.4 min 0.0% 10,668
62 AJet (VF) Singapore Singapore 11,014 16.4 min 0.0% 10,607
63 Aer Lingus (EI) Ireland Ireland 10,359 21.0 min 0.3% 10,004
64 VietJet Air (VJ) Vietnam Vietnam 10,310 19.0 min 0.1% 9,971
65 Singapore Airlines (SQ) Singapore Singapore 10,147 22.9 min 0.0% 9,782
66 Batik Air (ID) Indonesia Indonesia 10,035 16.6 min 4.1% 9,656
67 Widerøe (WF) Norway Norway 9,883 4.6 min 0.8% 9,451
68 ITA Airways (AZ) Italy Italy 9,819 21.3 min 1.5% 9,461
69 China Express Airlines (G5) China China 9,658 13.8 min 13.9% 9,306
70 TUI fly Germany (X3) Germany Germany 9,570 32.2 min 0.1% 9,162
71 TAP Portugal (TP) Portugal Portugal 9,404 28.7 min 0.6% 9,070
72 LOT (LO) Poland Poland 9,396 18.1 min 0.2% 9,043
73 Allegiant Air (G4) United States United States 9,316 27.9 min 0.1% 8,844
74 Lion Airlines (JT) Indonesia Indonesia 9,284 14.2 min 0.1% 8,951
75 Juneyao Airlines (HO) China China 9,226 19.9 min 1.4% 8,914
76 Finnair (AY) Finland Finland 9,190 15.0 min 1.3% 8,864
77 SunExpress (XQ) Turkey Turkey 9,177 19.2 min 0.0% 8,825
78 Austrian Airlines (OS) Austria Austria 8,981 14.4 min 0.4% 8,648
79 Flex Flight (W2) Denmark Denmark 8,636 0.3 min 0.0% 8,316
80 Philippine Airlines (PR) Philippines Philippines 8,626 15.9 min 1.1% 8,333
81 Swiss (LX) Switzerland Switzerland 8,533 22.5 min 0.4% 8,266
82 Aegean Airlines (A3) Greece Greece 8,346 23.1 min 0.1% 8,039
83 Binter Canarias (NT) Spain Spain 8,333 10.8 min 0.0% 8,031
84 Pobeda (DP) Russia Russia 8,316 38.2 min 0.4% 7,959
85 Tianjin Airlines (GS) China China 8,088 13.1 min 6.0% 7,812
86 Malaysia Airlines (MH) Malaysia Malaysia 7,980 16.7 min 0.0% 7,694
87 Shanghai Airlines (FM) China China 7,950 15.3 min 6.3% 7,669
88 Cape Air (9K) United States United States 7,784 10.5 min 4.5% 7,485
89 airBaltic (BT) Latvia Latvia 7,719 18.8 min 0.2% 7,398
90 S7 Airlines (S7) Russia Russia 7,329 7.3 min 0.2% 7,066
91 Grant Aviation (GV) United States United States 7,307 2.0 min 0.0% 6,993
92 Chengdu Airlines (EU) China China 7,294 9.2 min 6.3% 7,017
93 Etihad Airways (EY) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 7,234 26.6 min 0.2% 6,963
94 Air Arabia (G9) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 7,149 18.4 min 3.0% 6,843
95 flynas (XY) Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 7,022 12.3 min 0.3% 6,678
96 Aerolineas Argentinas (AR) Argentina Argentina 6,955 15.4 min 0.1% 6,703
97 Airlink (4Z) South Africa South Africa 6,880 11.5 min 0.1% 6,629
98 Loong Airlines (GJ) China China 6,709 14.9 min 1.1% 6,486
99 Volotea (V7) Spain Spain 6,675 18.2 min 0.0% 6,431
100 Rossiya (FV) Russia Russia 6,623 17.7 min 0.6% 6,361

Cite this

The busiest airline in May 2026 was American Airlines (AA), with 185,100 flights. Source: Airportia, "Busiest airlines, May 2026" (1–31 May 2026), https://www.airportia.com/statistics/busiest-airlines/2026-05/, 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.