Africa's Aviation Market

Monthly Airline Data Updates for the African Market

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

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

  • Which is the busiest airport?
  • What is the biggest airline in Africa?
  • Which African country has the most airline capacity?
  • Which regions are most visited?
  • And more.
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) | September 2025

 

Which is the biggest airline in Africa?

  • Ethiopian Airlines remains Africa's largest carrier, operating 1.9m seats in September 2025, an increase of 6.9% and 121,500 more seats.
  • Within the Top 10, Turkish Airlines grew at the fastest rate of 16.8%, followed by Safair by 13.3% vs last year.
  • Capacity continued to decline for Kenya Airways by 20.5% vs last year.

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

 

Which is the Busiest Airport in Africa?

  • Cairo remains the largest airport in Africa with 1.6m seats in September 2025, an increase of 8.6% compared to last year.
  • Johannesburg led growth among Africa’s Top 10 airports, up 12.6% from September 2024. Cape Town and Algiers followed, each increasing by 11%.
  • Capacity reduced again at Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International, by 3.9%.

Airline Capacity in Africa | September 2025

 

How much airline capacity is there in Africa This Month?

  • Total capacity across Africa this month has increased by 5.7% vs September 2024 to 23.2m seats.
  • International capacity represents 79% of total capacity and is up by 6.8% vs September 2024, whilst domestic capacity increased by 1.9%.
  • Mainline carriers represent 80% of the market, with capacity up 5% since September 2024. Low-cost carriers have grown even faster, up 8.7% to 4.7 million 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 | September 2025

 

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

  • Egypt remains the largest country market in Africa with 2.7m seats in September 2025, an increase of 7.1% vs last year.
  • With the Top 10 countries, capacity grew at the fastest rate in Tanzania by 21.4%, followed by South Africa by 12.8% and Algeria by 9.1%.
  • Capacity in Nigeria declined by 18.2%, 116,400 fewer seats.

Which African Country Has THE Most DOMESTIC Airline Capacity?

 

  • South Africa continues to be the largest domestic market in Africa with 1.6m seats this month, an increase of 13.8% vs last year.
  • Domestic capacity rose 21.7% in Tanzania to 408,500 seats, 11.2% in Kenya to 412,400 seats, and 11.3% in Algeria to 329,000 seats compared to September 2024.
  • Domestic capacity declined in Egypt by 11.4%, 34,300 fewer seats.

Airline Capacity By African Region | September 2025

Where do flights from Africa go?

  • Europe remains Africa’s top international destination, with capacity reaching 9.2 million seats - a 5.9% increase from September 2024.
  • Capacity grew at the fastest rate between Africa and Latin America, with an increase of 17.2% compared to last September. This remains a small market with 55,900 seats.

Which Region of Africa Has Most AIRLINE Capacity?

  • Capacity to/from North Africa is the largest market with 6.5m seats, up by 5.8% vs September 2024. This represents 360,600 more seats.
  • Capacity also grew to/from Western Europe by 306,600, followed by Southern Africa and Eastern Africa by 279,100 and 232,500 respectively.
    Capacity to/from Eastern/Central Europe declined by 16.5% this month vs September 2024.

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