Europe Commands Half of Africa's International Air Capacity in August 2026
New OAG scheduled capacity data for August 2026 shows Europe accounting for 10.8 million of Africa's 21.5 million international seats - representing 50.35% of total international capacity and a 6.6% year-on-year increase of 664,600 additional seats. The Middle East ranks second with 4.93 million seats (22.9%), meaning the two regions together account for more than 73% of Africa's international scheduled capacity. Overall scheduled airline capacity across Africa reaches 27.3 million seats in August, up 8.4% from the same period in 2025, with international services representing 79% of that total.
Intra-African capacity is growing, up 10% year-on-year to 4.53 million seats, but still represents only 21.1% of the continent's international capacity - underlining that Africa's aviation network remains heavily oriented toward external connections. Egypt leads all national markets with 3.2 million scheduled seats, followed by South Africa (2.34 million) and Morocco (2.21 million), while Nigeria is the fastest-growing major market, up 37% to 1.22 million seats. Ethiopian Airlines remains the continent's largest carrier with 2.19 million seats, ahead of Safair and EgyptAir. Cairo International is Africa's busiest airport with 1.85 million scheduled seats, followed by Addis Ababa and Johannesburg. Asia-Pacific recorded the fastest regional growth at 12.9%, though it accounts for just 3.3% of Africa's international capacity.
Source: Travel Mole