(FORTUNE Magazine) – THE FAST ACTION in the airline industry is happening mostly outside the U.S. While domestic travel barely budged, international departures lofted 11% last year, signaling a new era of global expansion not only for American Airlines but also for other aggressive carriers. The adjoining table ranks the world's 50 largest passenger airline companies by total 1989 revenues, measured in dollars. In the booming Pacific, the number of passengers increased nearly 14%. Japan Airlines rode that tail wind to third place on this list, up from fourth last year. Hanjin Group, owner of Korean Air, also advanced one place, to 14th, but still seems hungry: In June it signed to buy 23 Boeing 747s, at $4.8 billion one of the largest aircraft orders ever. The U.S. carriers serving this region are fighting to maintain their share of the trans-pacific trade. United took the lead in that market this summer by doubling its capacity in the Pacific. Meanwhile, passengers flying from one busy Asian city to another may wait days for seats. Within the U.S., six giants control more than 75% of the market. Looking for room to grow, all of these megacarriers -- American, United, Delta, Continental, Northwest, and USAir -- are muscling into Europe and Asia, adding new routes from their domestic hubs. Pan Am and TWA, once America's only international carriers, are slipping. The old order is also changing in Europe, where the number of passengers rose 7% last year. The 12-country European Community has a flight plan for reduced regulation and increased competition by the end of 1992. Airlines there are buying smaller rivals where they can and forming alliances where they can't. Air France is building a fortress hub in Paris by taking over UTA, France's No. 2 international line, and Air Inter, the dominant domestic French carrier. Next door Lufthansa is buying 26% of East Germany's Interflug and will build a new hub in Berlin. Among the many carriers forming alliances is Swissair, which has swapped equity with Delta and Singapore Airlines. Almost all of South America's government-owned airlines are up for sale, and passengers are praying for improved service. Local investors bought LAN Chile last year, and SAS subsequently picked up one-third of the stock. Spain's Iberia plans to buy as much as 30% of Aerolineas Argentinas in a pending deal. Sometime soon -- manana, as they say -- Venezuela's Viasa and Uruguay's Pluna will go on the block. The only line likely to keep its present structure is Brazil's 87% employee-owned Varig, Latin America's top carrier. Next to privatize will probably be the airlines of Eastern Europe, starting with Interflug and Hungary's Malev. Perhaps one day even the U.S.S.R.'s gargantuan Aeroflot, which carries more passengers than any other airline, will follow. (This list doesn't include figures for Aeroflot or China's CAAC because their currencies aren't convertible into dollars.) Unless Mideast tensions keep fuel prices sky-high, the surge in international flights should last for years. So many carriers have lined up to order Boeing's new 747-400s, which are designed for long-distance flights, that the company is writing orders for delivery in the year 2000.

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