Which Airlines Fly To The Most Destinations? Some May Surprise You

I wonder if ASMs is more meaningful though.

The difference between international service is far larger between United and everyone else in terms of ASMs because a lot of their international destinations are long haul.

The US ‘big three’ might provide the most numerous flights/ASM’s or numerous locations, however, they cannot compete with the best airlines in the world.

Not quite sure what your 5 Ryanair domestic destinations are, i make it 9 within the UK (EMA, EDI, STN, MAN, BHX, LDY, BOH, NQY, BFS) and 2 within Ireland (DUB, KIR)?

@ Bobby Davro -- In Ireland there are five, including Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Knock, and Shannon.

Are these destinations served or airports?

I.e. is Ord/mdw, dal/dfw, Iah/hou, etc one destination or two destinations per city?

Neither can British Airways, Lufthansa, or Ryanair. And, while Air France long-haul F is great, its long-haul J and intra-Europe are on par with British Airways. So, why limit criticism to just the US3?

I get you - I was thinking more about "non-international" routes (e.g. Derry - Manchester ), where the city pairs form a domestic route.

Thanks 🙂

It takes an uber-premium airline to lead the industry in destinations. Well done United!

Domestic routes within the country they are headquartered in, I guess.

Hmm

This was my thought/question too. Given the high numbers I have to think each airport is a destination, but I am curious to know. I'm also curious as to Ryan Air vs. EasyJet, Air Asia, and Wizz. I know Ryan is massive but I'd think they'd be somewhat comparable.

Yeah because Ryanair serves many more domestic routes, within Italy, Spain eg

Does the count for UA/AA/DL count their regional affiliates like United Express? And does Lufthansa count Discover and Eurowings and LH's affiliates set up to avoid their mainline union contract?

Interesting point. Lufthansa as one example flies to both Newark and JFK. Count as 2 destinations (2 airports) or 1 destination (the NYC area)?

Overall I'd rate both Air France and BA's long-haul J class ahead of the US "big three"...but in BA's case, only if it's with the reverse herringbone seats.

yes... these counts are for the systems of all airlines, including their regional carriers.
Domestically, based on Sept 2024 flight activity, DL served the most cities on mainline with 143, AA with 124, UA with 120, Allegiant with 112, and WN with 104. Everyone else serves less than 100 domestic cities with mainline.
AA serves 207 domestic cities with RJs, UA serves 196 and DL serves 180. There is clearly a inverse correlation to the amount of the domestic system that is served exclusively by regional jets or jointly with mainline.

AA and UA also use regional jets to more of Latin America than DL or other airlines do, in part because of AA and UA's Texas hubs.

you can debate whether RJs should be excluded or included but there is indeed a difference in what is served by mainline vs. what is served by regional jets.

I feel like it isn't really particularly fair to consider domestic destinations in that sense, as Ryanair actually only operate one flight within Ireland domestically (DUB-KIR). Realities of the stupidity of that flight existing aside, they also have Polish, British and Maltese subsidiaries (Ryanair UK, Buzz, Malta Air and Lauda Europe), as well as operating domestic flights in countries they aren't headquartered in, such as Morocco.

EWR and JFK should not be combined considering they are different states.

Hello Lee,
In response to your question; “Why limit criticism to just the US3”, please be advised that I was simply tailoring my response to the three subject airlines inline with blog guidelines.
However, as you expanded to subject airlines perhaps you would prefer that I respond to those you mentioned too.
In the world rankings:
AA are rated No. 78, UA 42, while DA is 21.
While FR are rated 63, LH 18, BA 13 and AF 9
As can be seen from figures, only FR is rated below DL and UA but still ahead of AA.
Therefore, it is clear that the US ‘Big 3’ cannot compete with the best airlines in the world.

Actually, 3rd place on your non-US Big 3 list should be Air Canada, which appears to serve 222 destinations.

@AERO...Did you bother reading the topic of the post?

Aero
If you believe a ranking that has Ryanair there, you should probably reconsider what you read.
No one in their right mind would consider penny pinching Ryanair above any network carrier and LH that high? Please

It’s easy to find rankings to support most conclusions you want to see

Ryanair is an Irish airline, not a UK company. The 5 domestic airports it serves are DUB, ORK, SNN, NOC and KIR.

LAX, did you bother to read my original post followed by the question from Lee?

Julie,
Please be assured that I as am very careful about what I read there is no need for me to “Reconsider what I read”.
You on the other hand might consider reading a little more widely by following the link below:
https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-top-100-airlines-2024/
By doing so you will note that I have simply quoted figures obtained therein.
As for Ryanair, probably like you I would never spend my own money on a Ryanair flight, however, again if you read the Skytrax customer review, you will note that many passengers do so, hence their rating.

The "best" airlines at what? Someone's subjective opinion of what constitutes "niceness" or "comfort?"

Then sure I guess. But as with most things US, they don't give a sh!t about that, they just go for the money... which they most certainly do compete (and dominate) "the best" airlines thereat.

Context is everything.

"EWR and JFK should not be combined considering they are different states."

Which makes no sense, seeing as they're the same metropolitan area.

For the uninitiated, what “clearly” is the “inverse correlation” and what does it mean to the consumer, Tim?

i thought air china would have more destinations