African carriers are lagging their international counterparts in intercontinental traffic share, even within their own markets.
According to the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) African Airlines’ Performance Updates for June 2025, non-African airlines still dominate intercontinental capacity to and from Africa, controlling 63,7% of the market.
Despite a 0,1% increase in seat capacity for African airlines on intra-Africa routes, AFRAA has reported a 3% decrease in total seat capacity in the year ending June 2025.
Continental seat capacity distribution was led by North Africa with 40,7%, followed by Eastern Africa with 23%, Southern African with 18,9% and Central and Western Africa with a collective share of 17,4%.
By June 2025, the top 10 African airports by seat capacity were as follows:
- Cairo International Airport
- Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport
- Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport
- Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport
- Algiers’ Houari Boumediene Airport
- Cape Town International Airport
- Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
- Marrakesh Menara Airport
- Tunis – Carthage International Airport
- Hurghada International Airport
AFRAA projects that passenger traffic for African airlines will grow by 15,3%, from accommodating 98 million passengers in 2024 to 113 million passengers by the end of 2025.
