Top 10 busiest Airports in Africa as continent’s travellers hit 178.6 million in 2022

In 2022, no fewer than 7 billion air passengers passed through the 41,700 commercial airports worldwide.

The figure increased by 53. 5% when compared to the same period in 2021.

The figure, which was released by Airports Council International (ACI) also said that a total of 178,662,326 air travellers passed through the continent’s 477 airports in the past year.

Quarter by quarter breakdown of the load factor indicated that in Q1, 35,501,890 travellers moved within the continent, Q2 showed 41,955,767 movement, Q3 stood at 51,696,274 travellers, while the figure was 49,508,395 in the Q4 of the past year. In all, the total number of travellers on the continent was 178,662,326 according to the figure released.

However, in this edition, Nairametrics takes a look at the Top 10 busiest airports in Africa in 2022. This was based on the percentage of passengers departing and arriving at the airports within the same period.

Top 10 Airports in Africa

1. Cairo International Airport (Egypt)

The busiest airport in Africa in 2022 was Cairo International Airport, which ferried 20,009,336 within the period.

The figure indicated a 76% increase when compared to the same period in 2021.

On average weekly, the terminal handled approximately 115 flights, with a total yearly usage capacity of 20 million passengers to approximately 84 destinations across the world.

2. O. R. Tambo International Airport (South Africa)

With about 190 scheduled flights weekly and a capacity of up to 25 million passengers per year, O. R. Tambo International Airport was the second busiest airport and the primary airport for domestic and international travel to and from South Africa in 2022 with 14,789,508.

The airport was opened in 1952 and was known as Johannesburg International Airport until 2006 when it was renamed after anti-apartheid leader Oliver Reginald Tambo.

3. Cape Town International Airport (South Africa)

Cape Town International Airport was South Africa’s second busiest airport and Africa’s third busiest in the past year.

The airport is regarded as the continent’s most beautiful airport with state-of-the-art facilities and an automated baggage processing system that can handle 30,000 bags per hour.

The airport in the past year processed 7,876,183 travellers to various destinations and primarily welcomed tourists from all over the world.

4. Mohammed V International Airport (Morocco)

The fourth busiest airport in Africa according to the Airports Council International (ACI) was Mohammed V International Airport, based in Casablanca, Morocco.

The statistics revealed that the airport welcomed 7,637,643 passengers within the year, slightly lower than Cape Town International Airport, Cape Town, which equally had the same 7 million figure within the period.

Casablanca is Morocco’s most populous and influential city and a point of departure and arrival for Moroccans travelling to and from Europe, an advantage, which further increased the number of air travellers to it. The airport also serves as the primary hub for the popular Royal Air Maroc airline, which flies the Moroccan flag.

5. Hurghada International Airport, which is based in Egypt is emerged as the fifth busiest airport in Africa in the past year with 7,164,088.

The airport was also the second busiest in Egypt after Cairo International Airport (Egypt), which topped the list in Africa in the past year. Hurghada Airport is located 5 kilometres southwest of El Dahar and currently has only one terminal. The airport connects Egypt to international destinations in Europe, North America, and Asia.

6. Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

The airport, which is the major hub of Ethiopian Airlines emerged as the sixth busiest in last year with 6,656,516 air travellers. Ethiopian Airlines is the continent’s largest airline in terms of passengers carried, and it is also the world’s fourth-largest airline in terms of nations served.

7. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi (Kenya)

The airport, which is based in the capital of Kenya, the East African country, processed 6,556,569 travellers in the past year and emerged as the busiest in that country.

The airport has scheduled flights to more than 50 different countries. on average, the airline welcomes about 6 million travellers yearly and has been consistent in the past years.

8. Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos (Nigeria)

The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, emerged as the busiest airport in Nigeria for the umpteenth time with 6,526,023, according to the ACI statistics, which corroborated with the data released by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) earlier in the year. The airport was the eighth in Africa in the past year.

This figure indicates a 15 per cent growth when compared to the same period in 2021.

The airport currently has 78 weekly frequencies. The over 40-year-old terminal services both domestic and international flights and is located at Ikeja, the capital of Lagos State.

9. Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers (Algeria)

The ninth busiest airport in Africa in 2022 was Houari Boumediene Airport, located in Algiers, Algeria with 6,317,793 travellers within the period.

The airport is named after Houari Boumediene, a former President of Algeria. Dar El Beïda, the area where the airport is located, was known as Maison Blanche.

10. Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (Nigeria

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja is Nigeria’s second busiest airport and 10th on the continent in the year under review.

The airport, which is in the Federal Capital Territory (F.C.T) of Nigeria processed no fewer than 5,985,596 passengers in the last year. This shows an improvement of 11 per cent when compared with the previous year.

The airport has a total of 59 weekly frequencies making use of its facilities.