Africa's Aviation Market

Monthly Airline Data Updates for the African Market

Discover the Busiest Airports and Airlines in Africa This Month | January 2026

How much airline capacity is there in Africa? Find out with new data each month.

Here are some of the key stats from this month's African aviation market update:

  • Busiest airport: Cairo International
  • Biggest airline in Africa: Ethiopian Airlines
  • African country with most global airline capacity: Egypt
  • Country with most domestic airline capacity: South Africa
Data is sourced from OAG's Schedules Analyser; a cutting-edge platform for airline schedule analysis.

 

Top Ten Airlines in Africa (Departing seats, one-way) | January 2026

 

Which is the biggest airline in Africa?

  • Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s largest carrier with 2.1 million seats in January 2026 - an increase of 6.4% (124,100 additional seats) compared to the same month last year.
  • South African Airways recorded the fastest growth in the region, increasing capacity by 31.9% year-on-year, followed by Royal Air Maroc which grew by 25.9%.

Top Ten Busiest Airports by Departing Seats in Africa | January 2026

 

Which is the Busiest Airport in Africa?

  • Cairo remains the largest airport in the continent with 1.8m seats in January 2026, an increase of 10.3% year-on-year.
  • Fastest growth within the Top 10 largest airports in Africa came again from the two Moroccan airports. Capacity grew by 18.1% at Casablanca, and by 17.5% at Marrakech vs January 2025.

  • READY TO VIEW: The World's Busiest Airports of 2025

Airline Capacity in Africa | January 2026

 

How much airline capacity is there in Africa This Month?

  • Total capacity across Africa this month has increased by 9.1% year-on-year to 25.1m seats.
  • International capacity represents 76% of total capacity and is up by 8.8% vs January 2025. Domestic capacity is growing slightly faster, up 10.1% year-on-year.
  • Mainline carriers represent 80% of the market, with capacity up 9.3% compared to January 2025. Low-cost carriers grew at a slightly slower rate of 8.4% vs last year to 4.9m seats.

*As of July 2025, international capacity is reported on a two-way basis (previously one-way departing).

WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN NEW DATA IS ADDED

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African Countries' Airline Capacity | January 2026

 

Which African Country Has The Most Airline Capacity (Domestic + International)?

  • Egypt remains the largest country market in Africa with 3m seats in January 2026, a 10% increase year-on-year.
  • Tanzania recorded the fastest capacity growth this month, with seats up 18.9%, followed by Morocco at 14% and South Africa at 12.7%.

Which African Country Has THE Most DOMESTIC Airline Capacity?

 

  • South Africa is the largest domestic market in Africa with 1.8 million seats this month, up 14.9% year-on-year.
  • Domestic capacity grew at the fastest rate in Cape Verde by 23.6%, followed by Algeria and Tanzania by 22.9% and 20.4% respectively.
  • In contrast, domestic capacity in Congo continues to decline, down 30.8% this month, representing 43,600 fewer seats.

Airline Capacity By African Region | January 2026

Where do flights from Africa go?

  • Capacity to Europe remains the largest international destination region, with 9.3m seats – an increase of 888,200 seats compared with January 2025.
  • Capacity to the Middle East increased by 338,000 seats compared with last year, making it the second-largest international market.

Which Region of Africa Has Most AIRLINE Capacity?

  • Capacity to/from North Africa is the largest market with 6.7m seats, growing by 573,200 seats vs last year.
  • Capacity grew to/from Western Europe by 382,700 seats, followed by Southern Africa by 328,600 additional seats respectively.
  • Capacity to/from North East Asia grew at the fastest rate of 25.4% vs January 2025, followed by Eastern/Central Europe by 25.1% vs last year.

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