Africa's Aviation Market

Monthly Airline Data Updates for the African Market

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

 

Which is the biggest airline in Africa?

  • Ethiopian remains Africa's largest carrier operating 1.9m seats, an increase of 15.7%, 259,500 more seats.
  • Ryanair grew at the fastest rate by 20.9% in April 2025, followed by Safair which grew by 17.7%.
  • Capacity continued to decline for Kenya Airways by 6.9% and Egyptair by 0.9% vs last year.

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

 

Which is the Busiest Airport in Africa?

  • Cairo remains the largest airport in the continent with 1.6m seats in April 2025. Addis Ababa is the second largest airport with 1.1m seats, an increase of 17.4% vs last year, 164,900 more seats.
  • Fastest growth within the Top 10 largest airports in Africa came from Hurghada, an increase of 19% vs April 2024, 72,100 more seats.
  • Capacity at the Moroccan airports, Casablanca and Marrakech, grew strongly again this month by 13.1% and 10.7% vs last year.

Airline Capacity in Africa | April 2025

 

How much airline capacity is there in Africa This Month?

  • Total capacity across Africa this month has increased by 6.9% vs April 2024 to 15.8m seats.
  • International capacity represents more than two thirds of total capacity and is up by 9.5% vs April 2024. Domestic capacity increased by 1.8%.
  • Mainline carriers represent 84% of the market. However LCCs are growing at a faster rate, with a 16% increase year on year to 2.5 million seats.

WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN NEW DATA IS ADDED

Add your name to the list and we'll email you once a week with a round-up of the new aviation data added to our dashboards, the latest in-depth analysis from our air travel experts, travel technology news, easy to digest infographics and more.

African Countries' Airline Capacity | April 2025

 

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

  • Egypt remains the largest country market in Africa with 2.8m seats in April 2025, an increase of 6.8% vs last year.
  • With the Top 10 countries, capacity grew at the fastest rate of 18.2% in Ethiopia, with 207,200 more seats. Capacity in Morocco continued to increase significantly, adding 244,800 more seats an increase of 15.2% vs April 2024.
  • Capacity in Nigeria continued to decline, reducing by 14.3% vs last year.

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 10.8% vs last year.
  • The second largest domestic market in Africa is Nigeria, with 663,200 seats this month, a reduction of 18.4% representing 149,600 fewer seats vs April 2024.
  • Of those in the Top 10, Morocco continues to be the fastest growing domestic market, with an increase of 18.3% vs last year. Ryanair introduced 11 domestic routes in Winter 2025, having been granted cabotage rights.
  • Domestic capacity continued to decline in Egypt by 8.9% and Tanzania by 3.2% vs April 2024.

Airline Capacity By African Region | April 2025

Where do flights from Africa go?

  • Capacity to Europe remains the largest International region, with 4.4m seats and grew by 534,800 seats (+13.8%).
  • Capacity continues to grow at the fastest rate between Africa and Asia Pacific, with an increase of 24.2% compared to last April, an additional 60,500 seats.

Which Region of Africa Has Most AIRLINE Capacity?

  • Capacity to/from North Africa is the largest market with 6.3m seats, growing by 586,200 seats vs last year, a 10.2% increase.
  • Percentage wise, capacity to/from Eastern Africa grew at the fastest rate of 11.2%, 370,600 more seats.
  • Capacity to/from Central/Western Africa reduced by 5% this month vs April 2024.

MORE RESOURCES FROM OAG

 

China Aviation market Data

The busiest airports, largest airlines, biggest cities for airline capacity and more

View Data

US Aviation Market Data

This month's leading airlines, airports, states and more from the US market.

View Data

South East Asian Aviation Market Data

SE Asia's biggest country markets, airports, airlines and more are updated each month.

View Data

Infographics

View the latest easy to digest aviation data infographics.

View Now

Webinars

Catch up on our latest live webinar with industry experts.

Watch Now

Aviation Market Analysis

Analysis of the latest data and developments in the aviation world.

Read Now