No Nigerian airline in Africa’s top 10 seat capacity ranking for May 2026
By Aboki Forex —
The African aviation market continued its steady expansion in May 2026. Rising passenger demand, network recovery, and improving connectivity across domestic, regional, and international routes drove growth. The sector remained highly competitive. Capacity growth came from a mix of long-established flag carriers, low-cost operators, and international airlines serving key African markets.
This ranking highlights the top 10 airlines in Africa by one-way departing seat capacity. That measure tracks scheduled airline supply and operational scale. The data comes from OAG’s African Aviation Market Data for May 2026. It covers scheduled capacity across global airline markets.
No Nigerian airline made the top 10 in May 2026. Nigeria’s largest carrier, Air Peace, last appeared in OAG’s top 10 in December 2025. It ranked sixth then and recorded the highest year-on-year seat capacity growth among African airlines. Air Peace expanded its available seats by 53.4% from 285,470 in December 2024 to 437,974 in December 2025.
Top 10 airlines in Africa by seat capacity in May 2026
10. easyJet – 344,293 seats, up 20.0% year-on-year from 287,000 in May 2025. The British low-cost carrier recorded the fastest growth among the top 10. It operates a point-to-point model with 355 aircraft serving over 1,200 routes across 38 countries and 164 airports. In Africa, easyJet expanded through Morocco. It opened a permanent base at Marrakech Menara Airport in April 2026, stationing three aircraft there. That followed two decades of operations in the country and over 20 million passengers carried. The airline runs multiple routes across Morocco including Marrakech, Agadir, Rabat, Essaouira, and Tangier. Seasonal services such as Hamburg–Marrakech became year-round. Its network in Morocco is set to expand further.
9. Kenya Airways
8. Emirates
7. Ryanair
6. Airlink
5. Air Algérie
4. Royal Air Maroc
3. EgyptAir
2. FlySafair
1. Ethiopian Airlines
These rankings show a blend of African and international carriers. Ethiopian Airlines remains the top carrier by seat capacity in Africa.