(Posted 11th August 2026)
Courtesy of AeroTrail Limited and Mr. Alex Koech
Cairo International Airport (CAI) maintained its position as Africa’s busiest airport by scheduled airline seat capacity in July 2026, with an estimated 3.34 million seats tracked by AeroTrail. Addis Ababa Bole (ADD/HAAB) ranked second with approximately 2.29 million seats, followed closely by Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) in third with 2.27 million seats. These were the only African airports to exceed 2 million airline seats during the month.
The Top 10 further demonstrates the concentration of Africa’s air connectivity around a relatively small number of strategic aviation hubs. Egypt, South_Africa and Morocco each placed two airports in the ranking, while Algeria (ALG) ranked fifth, Kenya (NBO) eighth and Tunisia (TUN) ninth. Ethiopia was represented by ADD in second position.
Beyond total capacity, the cabin-class mix provides another perspective on the competitive positioning of these hubs. Johannesburg O.R. Tambo led the continent in both First Class capacity (6,082 seats) and Premium Economy capacity (36,011 seats), followed by Cairo (4,998 First Class; 18,942 Premium Economy) and Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta (2,544 First Class; 13,952 Premium Economy).
This highlights an important distinction: airport size by total seat capacity does not necessarily tell the full story about the quality and composition of connectivity.
AeroTrail’s airport capacity tracking provides a monthly view of airline capacity, market connectivity and cabin-class supply across Africa’s key aviation hubs.
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