Airlines are a very interesting market because the success of companies in this field depend on being able to cater to customers while making a sustainable profit. Back in the day airlines would offer as much as they could for free so that the customers were always happy and willing to fly again with whichever airline; however, now it has turned into the opposite, where the airline companies offer their customers a very basic package and let them pick and choose which upgrades they would like to add on and pay for. It’s not cheap to fly, but for that reason the airlines are pulling in solid money. Here are the five most valuable airlines in the world.
5. China Eastern Airlines – $30.2 Billion
China Eastern Airlines works out of the ground floor at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. The company’s stock is currently sitting at $15.60 per share and is China’s second largest carrier when breaking the numbers down by passenger amount. The Chinese government owns 61% of China Eastern Airline’s stock while a portion of the rest is available to the public.
4. American Airlines – $31.7 Billion
American Airlines started out in Texas but is now flying people out of multiple points in the United States to plenty of global destinations. The company has been on the rise and seen lots of growing success so far in 2014 and is easily the most improved airline from last year jumping to $4.5 billion from $1.7 billion in 2013.
3. Delta – $34 Billion
Delta Air’s central hub is located in Atlanta where they make sure their planned 5,000 flights a day are on schedule and avoiding any problems. The company’s stock has recently dropped due to wrongly forecast international revenue for June, but the company does not seem to be facing too much of a negative impact from the situation and I’m sure their stock will bounce back relatively quick.
2. Air China – $41.3 Billion
Air China is a completely different company separate from Eastern China Airlines. The company is one of the major airlines for the P.R. of China and work out of the Beijing Capital International Airport. The company’s logo is a phoenix that actually spells out VIP to subliminally reach out to its customers who are filling up 81% of each flight. Air China currently has a fleet of 315 air crafts that are traveling to 185 different locations around the globe.
1. Cathay Pacific Airways – $56.9 Billion
Cathay Pacific, another Chinese airline company, is the world’s largest international cargo airline that runs out of Hong Kong International Airport. The company has a relatively tiny fleet size of 114 (compared to others at 300), yet they still reach 42 different countries around the world and were still able to carry 27 million people back in 2010. The most interesting thing about Cathay Pacific is that they are actually a majority stock owner in Air China.
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