Europe accounted for 10.8 million scheduled international airline seats from Africa in August 2026, making it the largest international destination region for airlines operating in the African aviation market.
According to OAG’s August 2026 data on scheduled capacity for the African aviation market, Europe’s 10.8 million seats represented 50.35% of Africa’s 21.5 million scheduled international seats.
The data showed that airlines operating in Africa scheduled significantly more international capacity to Europe and the Middle East than on international routes within Africa, highlighting the continued dominance of international markets despite strong growth in intra-African connectivity.
What the OAG report is saying
OAG said total scheduled airline seat capacity across Africa reached 27.3 million seats in August 2026, an 8.4% increase from August 2025. International services accounted for 21.5 million seats, representing 79% of the continent’s total scheduled capacity, while domestic services contributed about 5.8 million seats, with domestic capacity increasing by 11% year-on-year.
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- “Capacity to Europe remains the largest International destination region, with 10.8m seats (664,600 additional seats vs Aug 25),” the report read in part.
- Europe accounted for 50.35% of all international capacity, while the Middle East was the second-largest destination region with 4.93 million scheduled seats, representing 22.9% of Africa’s international capacity.
- International seat capacity within Africa stood at 4.53 million, despite increasing by 10% year-on-year, accounting for 21.1% of total international capacity.
Europe recorded a 6.6% increase in scheduled capacity compared with August 2025, while the Middle East increased by 8.1%. Combined, the two regions accounted for approximately 15.75 million scheduled international seats, representing more than 73% of Africa’s total international capacity.
More Insights
Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria recorded the fastest growth among Africa’s top 10 country aviation markets in August, with scheduled airline seat capacity rising 37% year-on-year to 1.22 million seats.
- The country added 330,700 scheduled seats compared with August 2025, placing it ahead of every other top 10 African market in terms of annual capacity growth.
- Nigeria’s domestic market recorded stronger growth, with scheduled seat capacity increasing 42.6% year-on-year to 907,600 seats, representing an additional 271,000 domestic seats.
- Egypt remained Africa’s largest country aviation market with 3.2 million scheduled seats, up 12.1% year-on-year, while South Africa followed with 2.34 million seats and Morocco ranked third with 2.21 million.
- South Africa remained the continent’s largest domestic aviation market, with 1.6 million scheduled seats.
- Domestic capacity also increased by 44% in Congo and 25.2% in Egypt, while Kenya recorded an 11.2% decline, equivalent to 48,800 fewer scheduled seats than in August 2025.
The data showed that capacity to the Asia Pacific region stood at 700,000 seats, representing 3.3% of international capacity, while the Americas accounted for 520,000 seats, or 2.4%. Asia Pacific recorded the fastest growth among the major destination regions at 12.9% year-on-year, compared with 6.1% growth for the Americas.
What you should know
Ethiopian Airlines retained its position as the largest airline by scheduled seat capacity in the African aviation market, with 2.19 million seats in August, representing a 10.9% year-on-year increase.
- South Africa’s Safair ranked second with 984,700 scheduled seats, despite a 1.1% decline, while EgyptAir ranked third with 922,600 seats, up 8.1%.
- Royal Air Maroc ranked fourth with 868,100 seats, while Air Algérie recorded the fastest growth among the top 10 operators, with capacity increasing by 16.8%.
- The remainder of the leading operators included Airlink, Ryanair, Emirates, Transavia France and Kenya Airways, with Kenya Airways returning to the top 10 after Air Peace dropped out.
- Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos recorded the strongest growth among Africa’s 10 busiest airports, with scheduled seat capacity increasing by 25.6% year-on-year.
Cairo International Airport remained Africa’s busiest airport with 1.85 million scheduled seats, followed by Addis Ababa with 1.25 million and Johannesburg with 1.15 million. Hurghada International Airport recorded the second-fastest growth among the continent’s top 10 airports, with scheduled capacity rising 18.6%.
The OAG data points to a broad expansion in Africa’s aviation market in August, but with the majority of scheduled international capacity still concentrated outside the continent. While intra-African international capacity grew 10% year-on-year, Europe and the Middle East together continued to account for more than 73% of the international seats scheduled from Africa.
