Africa's Aviation Market

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

Which is the biggest airline in Africa?

• Ethiopian Airlines remains Africa’s largest carrier, with 2 million seats scheduled for March 2026 - an increase of 4%, or 75,300 additional seats year-on-year.
• Within the Top 10, Royal Air Maroc recorded the strongest growth in the region, increasing capacity by 26.6% year-on-year, followed by South African Airways at 25.5%.
• Kenya Airways has reduced its capacity by 1.3%, equivalent to 4,900 fewer seats.

How much airline capacity is there in Africa This Month?

• Total airline capacity across Africa this month is 24.8 million seats, up 10.4% compared with March 2025.
• International capacity represents 77% of total capacity and is up by 10.2% vs March 2025. Domestic capacity increased by 10.8%.
• Mainline carriers represent 79% of the market and capacity increased by 10.4% vs March 2025. Low-cost carriers have grown at a similar rate, increasing capacity by 10.1% year-on-year to 5.2 million seats.
  
  

• Capacity to Europe remains the largest international destination region, with 9.3m seats (1m additional seats vs March 2025).
• Capacity to the Middle East has increased by 387,000 seats year-on-year, making it the second-largest international market with 4.7 million seats.

Which Region of Africa Has Most AIRLINE Capacity?