Africa’s aviation network is heavily concentrated around a handful of cities, with Nairobi serving as one of the continent’s four principal regional gateways, a new analysis by the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) of passenger traffic across Africa’s top 100 domestic, intra-African and international routes shows.
- •The AFRAA Routes and Connectivity Report, which analysed passenger traffic during the second half of 2025, ranked Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as Africa’s second busiest hub for intra-African connectivity after Johannesburg.
- •Johannesburg, Nairobi, Tunis and Cairo account for much of the continent’s regional connectivity, while internationally the busiest routes are concentrated almost exclusively on the North Africa-France corridor.
- •Overall, the analysis found that domestic routes accounted for 13.4 million passengers across the top 100 routes reviewed, compared with 9.3 million on international routes and 4.08 million on intra-African services.
Two Nairobi routes—Mogadishu-Nairobi and Entebbe-Nairobi—featured among the five busiest regional city pairs.
While Nairobi is strengthening its position as a regional aviation hub, domestic air travel across Africa continues to be dominated by South Africa and Nigeria. According to AFRAA, the two countries account for the continent’s largest domestic aviation markets, supported by their large populations, geographic size, multiple commercial centres and high demand for internal air travel.
The Cape Town-Johannesburg route remained Africa’s busiest domestic air corridor during the July-December 2025 period, carrying nearly two million passengers. It was followed by Durban-Johannesburg, while Abuja-Lagos ranked third, illustrating the importance of trunk routes in supporting economic activity and feeding regional and international airline networks.
The report also highlights a similar concentration in Africa’s international aviation market, where passenger traffic is heavily skewed towards routes linking North Africa and France. The busiest international connections were Algiers-Paris Charles de Gaulle and Algiers-Paris Orly, while Paris-Orly services to Tunis, Marrakech and Réunion also ranked among the continent’s top international corridors.
Paris Orly emerged as the most connected international airport in the analysis, reflecting the strength of tourism, diaspora and long-standing economic ties between France and the Maghreb region. Cairo and Algiers were the leading African gateways on international routes, reinforcing North Africa’s role as the continent’s primary bridge to Europe.
AFRAA said accelerating implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) could help reduce reliance on a handful of dominant hubs by encouraging more direct services between African cities. Expanding connectivity, it said, would strengthen trade, tourism and economic integration while improving access to underserved markets across the continent.
