International flights make up a significant portion of the global aviation market, although domestic services still outnumber overseas flights. According to Aviation Benefits, international travelers account for over 40% of passengers served, with around 1.8 billion passengers flown internationally each year.

International flying has been rapidly growing in the post-pandemic era, far outpacing the domestic sector. Using data from Cirium for the first half of 2026, there is one clear global winner when measuring the number of international flights scheduled.

European Low-Cost Carriers Lead International Flights

Credit: Ryanair

Irish-based ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Ryanair is well ahead of the pack in international services, with a total of 488,412 roundtrips scheduled between January and June 2026. Although Ryanair still operates an extensive network of domestic services around Europe, the vast majority of its operations are international, with 86% of Ryanair flights connecting airports in different countries. Ryanair isn’t the largest airline in the world by scheduled flights (that honor goes to American Airlines), but it is the world’s largest airline by scheduled international flights alone.

In second place is fellow European budget airline easyJet, which has 229,246 roundtrips scheduled, accounting for 81% of its operations. Finishing up the top three is Wizz Air with 188,258 roundtrips, which comprise 99% of Wizz’s schedule. These three European airlines collectively have over 900,000 international roundtrips scheduled between January and June this year.

The Rest Of The World

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Beyond the European low-cost big three, the next airline with the most international flights this year is Turkish Airlines, a carrier renowned for its massive international network. With a total of 155,410 international flights scheduled, TK has the world’s largest network as measured by countries served, flying to over 130 countries. Its Istanbul (IST) hub is also a record-holder, offering the most nonstop destinations of any global airport.

American Airlines comes in fifth place with 150,546 international roundtrips, accounting for just 13% of its operations. AA’s top international destination is Cancun, which it serves from almost 20 US airports year-round, while London Heathrow is its busiest destination outside the Americas.

The remainder of the top ten is comprised of Lufthansa, United Airlines, British Airways, KLM and Air France, in that order. As United Airlines is predominantly a domestic carrier, only 15% of its operations are international services. The same cannot be said of the European majors, which each operate an international-dominated schedule. This is particularly true of Dutch flag carrier KLM, where 100% of its services are international due to the small size of the Netherlands.

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International Demand Outpaces Domestic

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Although all air travel continues to trend upwards, it is international flying that is seeing the largest growth. International travel took a massive hit during the COVID pandemic, with travel restrictions grounding most of the world’s international flights. But since the industry’s recovery, international demand has been steadily growing, and at a rate considerably faster than domestic growth.

An International Air Transport Association (IATA) study found that international traffic in 2024 jumped by 13.6% year-on-year, compared to a more modest 5.7% increase in the domestic sector. This is supported by more recent data from Airport Council International, which measured a 4.9% rise in international traffic over the first half of 2025 against a slight 0.8% decline in domestic footfall.

Although the domestic travel market remains larger worldwide, its growth is more contained, particularly in mature markets where demand has essentially normalized. The same cannot be said of the international market, which continues to benefit from the reopening of routes and expansion of long-haul capacity.