Africa's aviation market

African aviation market at a glance

• 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

Top ten airlines in Africa (departing seats, one-way)

Which is the biggest airline in Africa?

• Ethiopian Airlines remains Africa’s largest carrier, operating 2 million seats in May 2026, a 7.3% increase year on year (an additional 136,600 seats).
• Of those in the Top 10, easyJet recorded the fastest growth in the region, increasing capacity by 20%, followed by Royal Air Maroc, up 16% year on year.
• Emirates reduced capacity by 2.5%, operating 9,800 fewer seats.
  

Top ten busiest airports in Africa by departing seats

Which is the busiest airport in Africa?

• Cairo remains Africa’s largest airport, with 1.7 million seats in May 2026. Capacity is broadly stable year on year, with a modest increase of 1.7%.
• Of Africa’s 10 largest airports, Lagos recorded the fastest growth, with capacity up 26.7%. Strong double‑digit growth was also seen at Hurghada, Egypt (up 11.3%) and Marrakech, Morocco (up 10.1%).
  
• READY TO VIEW: The World's Busiest Airports of 2025

Airline capacity in Africa

How much airline capacity is there in Africa this month?

• Total airline capacity across Africa in May 2026 is 23.9 million seats, up 6.7% compared with May 2025.
• International capacity represents 77% of total capacity and is up by 5.6% compared with May 2025. Domestic capacity increased by 10.8%.
• Mainline carriers represent 80% of the market, and capacity increased by 6.8% year-on-year. Low-cost carriers also grew, increasing capacity by 6.4% to 4.9 million seats.
  

African countries' airline capacity

Which African country has most airline capacity? (Domestic + international)

• Egypt remains the largest country market in Africa with 2.8m seats in May 2026, an increase of 5.1% vs last year.
• Of those in the Top 10, Nigeria again recorded the fastest capacity growth, up 34% versus May 2025. However, growth there remains inconsistent and fragile.
  

Which African country has most domestic airline capacity?

• South Africa remains Africa’s largest domestic market, with 1.5 million seats this month, up 5.9% year on year.
• Domestic capacity in Congo more than doubled, reaching 135,000 seats in May 2026. 
• Volume-wise domestic capacity in Nigeria grew the most, increasing by 245,600 seats.
  

Airline capacity by African region

Where do flights from Africa go?

• Europe remains the largest international destination region in May 2026 with 9.3m seats (667,100 additional seats vs May 2025).
• Capacity within Africa is the second largest market with 4.1m seats, increasing by 8.3% year-on-year.

Which region of Africa has most airline capacity?

More resources from OAG