Airports in Africa

Major African gateways span Cairo and Casablanca in the north, Lagos and Addis Ababa across the centre, and Johannesburg, Nairobi, and Cape Town to the south. Most long-haul traffic moves through these hubs before connecting onward.

Air travel across Africa

AeroGuide Hub covers Africa through 43 countries and around 60 of the most-connected airports in the OpenFlights schedule for the region. The biggest gateways include OR Tambo International Airport (JNB), Cairo International Airport (CAI), Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), Mohammed V International Airport (CMN), Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD), Houari Boumediene Airport (ALG). Each one has its own terminal, lounge, layover and ground-transport pages on this site.

How traffic flows across the region

Air traffic across Africa is built on a small number of mega-hubs and a much longer tail of regional fields. Mega-hubs concentrate long-haul intercontinental flights, premium lounges and the broadest connection banks for partner alliances. Mid-size and regional fields run shorter point-to-point services that feed those hubs. Anyone building a multi-stop itinerary through the region almost always touches one of the largest gateways for at least one leg.

When to travel

The best time to fly through Africa depends on local seasons, holiday peaks and weather. Avoid the major local public holidays for the lowest fares and lightest crowds, and check whether your routing crosses a region with a particular weather window (monsoon, hurricane, harmattan, polar darkness) that affects schedule reliability.

Regional travel tips

A few practical regional tips. Confirm visa and transit rules for every country your itinerary passes through, not only the final destination. Check whether your bag is tagged through on a single ticket or has to be collected and re-checked at any connection point. And budget extra time at the largest hubs, where security, customs and pier walks can each take longer than they look on a printed itinerary.

Top airports in Africa

Sorted by scheduled connectivity in the OpenFlights route database. Each card opens a full terminal, lounge, layover and ground-transport guide.

Countries in Africa