Emirates maintain top slot as world’s largest international carrier
08 Jun 2011
Dubai: For the second consecutive year, Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, continues to maintain its position as the world's largest carrier by international traffic, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The Dubai-headquartered airline ranked ahead of Deutsche Lufthansa and Delta, though Air France-KLM would have ranked first had its two main operating units been combined, according to new industry rankings for 2010 released by the international airlines body on Tuesday.
Last month Emirates Group chairman, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, also revealed that the airline is the world's largest by scheduled international passenger kilometres flown.
A passenger kilometre is a unit to calculate traffic by multiplying the passenger numbers by the number of kilometres each passenger has flown.
For cargo, Emirates came in third behind Korean Air, which occupied the second slot and Cathay Pacific Airways, which ranked in the first place.
During financial year 2010-11, Emirates recorded a 14.5 per cent growth in passenger numbers as compared to previous year, the carrier reported in its annual results last month.