Africa's Aviation Market

Monthly Airline Data Updates for the African Market

Discover the Busiest Airports and Airlines in Africa This Month | October 2025

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) | October 2025

 

Which is the biggest airline in Africa?

  • Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s largest airline, with 1.9 million seats operating in October 2025 - this is 6% more than last year, with an increase of  109,900 seats.
  • Of those in the Top 10, Turkish Airlines saw the highest growth in the region, increasing capacity by 22.2% compared to last year, while Safair grew by 15%.
  • Capacity continued to decline for Kenya Airways by 17.4% vs last year.

Top Ten Busiest Airports by Departing Seats in Africa | October 2025

 

Which is the Busiest Airport in Africa?

  • Cairo remains the largest airport in Africa with 1.6m seats in Oct 2025, an increase of 10.5% compared to the same month last year.
  • Among the Top 10 largest airports in Africa, Algiers saw the fastest growth, up 16.5% compared to October 2024. This is followed by Cape Town and Johannesburg with growth of 15.9% and 14% respectively.
  • Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International saw a slight decrease in capacity, down 0.1%.

Airline Capacity in Africa | October 2025

 

How much airline capacity is there in Africa This Month?

  • Total airline capacity in Africa in October 2025 is 24.2 million seats - a rise of 8.6% compared to October 2024.
  • International capacity represents 78% of total capacity and is up by 8.6% vs October 2024. Domestic capacity also increased by 8.4%.
  • Mainline carriers represent 80% of the market, and capacity increased by 7.6% vs October 2024. LCCs grew at a faster rate of 12.4% vs last year to 4.9m seats.

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

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African Countries' Airline Capacity | October 2025

 

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

  • Egypt remains the largest country market in Africa with 2.9m seats in October 2025, an increase of 8.3% vs last year.
  • Of the Top 10 country markets, Tanzania saw the highest capacity growth this month at 20.4%, followed by South Africa at 15.3% and Algeria at 12.6%.

Which African Country Has THE Most DOMESTIC Airline Capacity?

 

  • South Africa remains Africa’s largest domestic aviation market, with 1.7 million seats this month - a 16.6% increase compared to last year.
  • Domestic capacity also grew by 22.9% in Tanzania vs October 2024 to 407,700 seats, and in Algeria by 15.2% to 342,900 seats.
  • Domestic capacity declined in Ethiopia by 8%, with 34,500 fewer seats.

Airline Capacity By African Region | October 2025

Where do flights from Africa go?

  • Capacity to Europe remains the largest International destination region, with 9.5m seats (736,000 additional seats vs October 2024).
  • Capacity grew by 406,100 seats to the Middle East vs last year.

Which Region of Africa Has Most AIRLINE Capacity?

  • Capacity to/from North Africa is the largest market with 6.7m seats, growing by 530,700 seats vs last year - an 8.6% increase.
  • Capacity also grew to/from Western Europe by 385,800 seats, followed by Southern Africa and Eastern Africa by 343,400 and 266,500 additional seats, respectively.
  • Capacity to/from Eastern/Central Europe declined again this month by 5.7% vs October 2024.

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