The African aviation network continues to evolve as airlines expand connectivity, restore
suspended services, and explore new markets. This report examines route-level passenger
traffic across three market segments—domestic, intra-African, and international—for the
period from July to December 2025. The analysis is based on OAG Traffic Analyser data
covering the top 100 routes within each segment.
Domestic routes recorded the highest passenger volumes among the three market segments,
carrying a combined 13.4 million passengers across the top 100 routes. International routes
followed with 9.3 million passengers, while intra-African routes accounted for 4.1 million
passengers.
Cairo International Airport (CAI) is the only airport to appear among the leading hubs across
all three-market segments. It recorded 8 appearances in the domestic network, 12 within the
intra-African network, and 11 in the international network, reinforcing its position as Africa’s
primary aviation gateway across domestic, regional, and global markets.
Johannesburg (JNB) emerged as the leading hub for intra-African connectivity with 22
appearances, while Paris Orly (ORY) led the international market with 22 appearances. This
reflects the strength of the Algeria–Tunisia–Maghreb to France travel corridor, which features
prominently throughout the international route rankings.
Passenger traffic remained broadly balanced in both directions across almost all route pairs in
the domestic, intra-African, and international markets. Average directional imbalances ranged
from 1.7% to 2.9%, indicating that demand was largely evenly distributed between origin and
destination airports.
The busiest route overall was Cape Town–Johannesburg (CPT–JNB), which carried 1.99
million passengers during the review period. It was followed by Durban–Johannesburg (DUR–
JNB) with 1.39 million passengers, while Algiers–Paris Charles de Gaulle (ALG–CDG) ranked
as the busiest international route with 556,000 passengers.