Air Peace recorded the highest year-on-year seat capacity growth among African airlines in December 2025, expanding its available seats by 53.4% compared with December 2024.
The Nigerian carrier increased its seat capacity from 285,470 seats in December 2024 to 437,974 seats in December 2025, marking the strongest expansion among the continent’s top airlines for the month.
The data was drawn from OAG’s Monthly Airline Data Updates for the African Market for December 2025.
According to the OAG report, Air Peace led all airlines in Africa by growth rate in December 2025, even though it ranked behind several larger carriers in absolute seat capacity.
Beyond Air Peace, Ryanair recorded the second-highest growth, increasing its African seat capacity by 24.4%, from 332,295 seats in December 2024 to 413,411 seats in December 2025. This was followed by Ethiopian Airlines, which expanded capacity by 14.1%, rising from 1,701,244 seats to 1,940,328 seats, maintaining its position as the continent’s largest airline by seats.
Royal Air Maroc and Air Algérie also posted solid growth, with Royal Air Maroc increasing capacity by 7.6% from 574,352 to 618,003 seats, while Air Algérie expanded by 6.7% from 577,811 to 616,635 seats. EgyptAir recorded a more modest increase of 4.0%, growing its seat capacity from 792,199 seats to 823,910 seats.
At the lower end of the growth spectrum among the top 10 airlines operating in Africa, FlySafair remained largely flat, with seat capacity edging up by 0.4%, from 934,044 seats in December 2024 to 937,746 seats in December 2025.
Emirates, the only non-African carrier in this group, expanded capacity by 9.4%, increasing seats from 357,888 to 391,585, reflecting steady international growth into the African market.
By contrast, Kenya Airways trimmed seat supply by 1.3%, declining from 431,000 seats to 425,559 seats, while Airlink posted the steepest contraction, cutting capacity by 10.0%, from 482,637 seats to 434,213 seats.
In December 2025, Ethiopian Airlines ranked first in Africa with 1,940,328 seats, up from 1,701,244 a year earlier. FlySafair ranked second with 937,746 seats, largely unchanged from 934,044.
EgyptAir placed third at 823,910 seats, up from 792,199, while Royal Air Maroc ranked fourth with 618,003 seats, rising from 574,352. Air Algérie followed in fifth with 616,635 seats, up from 577,811.
Air Peace ranked sixth, increasing sharply to 437,974 seats from 285,470, while Airlink placed seventh with 434,213 seats, down from 482,637.
Kenya Airways was eighth at 425,559 seats, slightly below 431,000, followed by Ryanair in ninth with 413,411 seats, up from 332,295. Emirates rounded out the top ten with 391,585 seats, compared with 357,888 a year earlier.
Nigeria ranked as Africa’s fifth-largest airline market in December 2025, with 1.16 million scheduled passenger seats, covering both domestic and international flights. This marked a 3.7% decline from approximately 1.20 million seats in December 2024, making Nigeria the only top-10 African aviation market to contract during the period, though it retained its fifth-place ranking.
Other leading African markets expanded. Egypt led at 2.98 million seats, followed by South Africa at 2.60 million. Morocco grew by over 13% to 2.03 million, and Ethiopia maintained steady growth at 1.38 million.
Other countries in the top 10, including Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Mauritius, also reported increases, with Tanzania posting the fastest growth at over 20%.
Other countries in the top 10, including Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Mauritius, also reported increases, with Tanzania posting the fastest growth at over 20%.
On the domestic front, Nigeria ranked second, with 850,420 seats, down 7.5% from 919,400 in December 2024. South Africa remained the largest domestic market at 1,803,097 seats, followed by Kenya at 456,500 and Tanzania at 415,130.
In North Africa, Egypt rose to 391,736, Algeria to 388,731, and Morocco to 240,499, while Cape Verde recorded the fastest growth, surging from 69,493 to 92,924 seats. Some markets contracted, including Ethiopia (401,972 to 389,562) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (142,201 to 101,598).