Global aviation data and analytics group OAG has included two African airports in its latest list of the world’s 50 most connected airports (which it describes as “megahubs”). The list was published in its newly released ‘Megahubs 2026’ report. This compares with three in the Middle East, 16 in Asia (excluding Oceania), four in Latin America, 12 in Europe, and 11 in the US alone. Australia and Canada accounted for one each.
The two African airports were South Africa’s OR Tambo International Airport, in Johannesburg, and Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa International Airport. OR Tambo was ranked fortieth, while Addis Ababa came in at fiftieth.
Regarding OR Tambo, OAG noted that it had ranked thirty-eighth last year, and that the dominant carrier using it was local airline Airlink, which operated 35% of all flights to and from the airport. On the other hand, Addis Ababa’s connectivity had increased significantly over the past year, moving it up ten positions from the sixtieth place it held last year. Strikingly, 94% of its flights were operated by a single carrier – Ethiopian Airlines.
As a region, the report grouped Africa and the Middle East together. Of the ten most connected airports in this group, four were African. They were OR Tambo (second place), Addis Ababa (fifth), Cairo (sixth) and Casablanca (ninth). At Cairo, the dominant carrier was Egyptair, responsible for 38% of all flights. At Casablanca, the dominant carrier was Royal Air Maroc, with 73%.
The Middle Eastern airports on the list were Dubai (first), Riyadh King Khalid (third), Doha (fourth), Zayed (United Arab Emirates – seventh), Jeddah (eighth) and Sharjah (tenth).
The world’s ten most connected airports this year were Istanbul (first), London Heathrow (second), Amsterdam (third), Kuala Lumpur (fourth), Chicago O’Hare (fifth), Seoul Inchon (sixth), Frankfurt (seventh), Tokyo Haneda (eighth), Paris Charles de Gaulle (ninth) and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (tenth). Compared with last year, Istanbul and Heathrow had switched places, Chicago O’Hare had moved up from seventh place, Frankfurt had slipped down from fourth, Tokyo Haneda and Paris Charles de Gaulle had both moved up one place, while Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson had slipped down two places. The other airports had not changed their rankings.
