Africa’s top 10 airlines account for 8.08 million seats in August

The 10 largest carriers operating in Africa accounted for 8.08 million scheduled departing seats in August 2026, highlighting the concentration of airline capacity among the largest operators in the African aviation market.

Nairametrics arrived at this figure by summing the scheduled departing seat capacity of the 10 largest airlines operating in Africa, according to OAG’s August 2026 aviation data for the African market.

The combined capacity represents about 30% of Africa’s total scheduled capacity of 27.3 million seats in August 2026, which increased by 8.4% compared with August 2025.

Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, dropped out of Africa’s top 10 airlines in August after Kenya Airways displaced it from the 10th position it held in July.

What the data is saying

Ethiopian Airlines had the largest scheduled departing seat capacity among carriers operating in Africa, with 2.19 million seats in August 2026, up 10.9% from 1.97 million seats recorded in August 2025. Safair ranked second with 984,700 seats, although its capacity declined by 1.1% from 995,900 seats a year earlier.

• EgyptAir recorded 922,600 seats, representing an 8.1% increase from 853,200 seats in August 2025.
• Royal Air Maroc recorded 868,100 seats, up 13.2% from 767,100 seats in August 2025.
• Air Algerie recorded the strongest year-on-year growth among the top 10, with capacity rising 16.8% to 825,900 seats from 706,900 seats in August 2025.
• Airlink recorded 560,700 seats, an increase of 6.5% from 526,300 seats, while Ryanair had 506,100 seats, up 7.5% year-on-year.
• Emirates recorded 430,200 seats, representing a 6.4% increase from 404,400 seats in August 2025, while Transavia.com France recorded 419,300 seats, up 10.4% from 379,900 seats.
• Kenya Airways was the smallest among the top 10 by August 2026 capacity, with 373,700 seats, down 1.7% from 380,300 seats a year earlier. OAG noted that Kenya Airways re-entered the top 10, while Air Peace dropped out.

Europe leads international travel from Africa

Europe remained Africa’s dominant international aviation market, accounting for 10.8 million scheduled international airline seats from Africa in August 2026. According to OAG’s August 2026 data, Europe’s 10.8 million seats represented 50.35% of Africa’s 21.5 million scheduled international seats, with capacity increasing by 6.6% year-on-year.

The Middle East was the second-largest destination region, with 4.93 million scheduled seats, representing 22.9% of Africa’s international capacity and an 8.1% year-on-year increase.

• Europe and the Middle East combined accounted for approximately 15.75 million scheduled international seats, representing more than 73% of Africa’s international capacity.
• International seat capacity within Africa stood at 4.53 million, despite increasing 10% year-on-year, accounting for 21.1% of total international capacity.
• Asia Pacific recorded 700,000 seats, while the Americas accounted for 520,000 seats, representing 3.3% and 2.4% of international capacity respectively.
• International services accounted for 21.5 million seats, representing 79% of the continent’s total scheduled capacity, while domestic services contributed about 5.8 million seats and increased 11% year-on-year.

What you should know

Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria recorded the fastest growth among Africa’s top 10 country aviation markets in August, with scheduled airline seat capacity rising 37% year-on-year to 1.22 million seats. The country added 330,700 scheduled seats compared with August 2025, placing it ahead of every other top 10 African market in annual capacity growth.

Nigeria’s domestic market recorded stronger growth, with scheduled seat capacity increasing 42.6% year-on-year to 907,600 seats, representing an additional 271,000 domestic seats.

• Egypt remained Africa’s largest country aviation market with 3.2 million scheduled seats, up 12.1% year-on-year, while South Africa followed with 2.34 million seats and Morocco ranked third with 2.21 million.
• South Africa remained the continent’s largest domestic aviation market, with 1.6 million scheduled seats. Domestic capacity increased by 44% in Congo and 25.2% in Egypt, while Kenya recorded an 11.2% decline.
• Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos recorded the strongest growth among Africa’s 10 busiest airports, with scheduled seat capacity increasing 25.6% year-on-year.

Cairo International Airport remained Africa’s busiest airport with 1.85 million scheduled seats, followed by Addis Ababa with 1.25 million and Johannesburg with 1.15 million. Hurghada International Airport recorded the second-fastest growth among the continent’s top 10 airports, with scheduled capacity rising 18.6%.