Airbus Maps Africa's Biggest Connectivity Gaps as Demand Grows
Airbus has identified the continent's most significant unserved air routes, with London - Harare topping the list for the second consecutive year, followed by Johannesburg - Mumbai and Dubai - Kinshasa. The findings were presented by Airbus Market Intelligence & Consulting Director Geert Lemaire at AviaDev Africa 2026 in Botswana earlier this month, drawing on passenger traffic data covering October 2024 to September 2025. Other notable unserved international routes include Lagos - Toronto, Guangzhou - Lagos, Douala - Dubai, Brussels - Cape Town and London - Zanzibar, with Lemaire highlighting Guangzhou - Lagos as a significant new entry driven by rebounding post-pandemic traffic.
Within sub-Saharan Africa, the leading unserved city pairs include Cape Town - Lagos, Dakar - Libreville, Abuja - Nairobi and Dakar - Nairobi. Despite growing urbanisation, trade links and tourism demand, the region recorded a net increase of just 11 routes operating at least three times per week in 2025 - a figure Lemaire described as insufficient for a region of Africa's scale, noting it has between 400 and 500 fewer air routes than Latin America. Airbus nonetheless forecasts annual passenger traffic growth of more than 5% across Africa's major markets over the next two decades and pointed to the A321XLR as a suitable aircraft for expanding thinner long-haul routes with lower capacity risk.
Source: Aviation Week
