(Posted 19th August 2026)
Courtesy of AeroTrail Limited and Mr. Alex Koech
Cairo International Airport (CAI) continued to reinforce its position as Africa’s busiest airport by airline capacity, recording approximately 3.34 million available seats in July 2026, according to AeroTrail tracking.
That translates to an average of 107,816 seats per day, with 30 July recording the highest daily capacity at 116,226 seats. July was the second-highest month for capacity at CAI so far in 2026, behind January.
Capacity by market
84.6% — International markets outside Africa
9.0% — Intra-African markets
6.0% — Domestic markets
The figures underline Cairo’s role as a major Africa–Middle East–Europe gateway, with international connectivity accounting for the overwhelming majority of its capacity.
Passenger & Flight Performance
CAI handled a total of 2.756 million arriving and departing passengers across 19,357 flights during July, equivalent to an estimated 82% load factor based on available seats.
This represented:
4% year-on-year growth in passenger traffic
2% growth in flight movements
Compared with July 2025, when the airport handled 2.654 million passengers across 19,013 flights, the latest figures point to continued growth in both passenger demand and operational activity.
July 2026 traffic breakdown:
Departures: 1.346 million passengers | 9,689 flights
Arrivals: 1.410 million passengers | 9,668 flights
Saudi_Arabia leads international connectivity
Saudi Arabia remained Cairo’s strongest country market, with Jeddah (JED) and Riyadh (RUH) ranking as the airport’s leading destination markets:
Jeddah — 375,743 seats
Riyadh — 374,635 seats
Airline capacity
EGYPTAIR remained the dominant carrier at CAI, accounting for 35.4% of total available seats, followed by:
SAUDI AIRLINES — 8.8%
Air Cairo — 6.4%
Aircraft mix
Airbus Aircraft dominated the capacity landscape, with Airbus-family aircraft accounting for 63.6% of available seats at CAI during the month. Among individual aircraft, Nile Air’s Airbus A321, registered SU-BQN, emerged as the airport’s workhorse aircraft for July.
The infographic above provides a detailed overview of Cairo International Airport’s capacity, passenger traffic, connectivity, airline and aircraft performance for July 2026.
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