Africa is a developing continent and the aviation industry of it is fascinating. In terms of passenger volume and the airport’s size, Africa has a number of busiest airports. In terms of passenger traffic, airports such as Cairo International Airport and O. R. Tambo International Airport have high traffic. Apart from these 2, there are 8 more airports in this continent that are found to be busy. We’ve featured these 10 busiest airports in Africa in this blog that might surprise you by their passenger traffic and other characteristics.
Along with their passenger traffic, there will be several characteristics discussed in this blog. On the basis of these characteristics, you will be getting an idea of how busy these airports in Africa are.
List of South Africa’s busiest airports
Cairo International Airport
Cairo International Airport, with the CAI Airport code, is Cairo city’s primary international gateway. This airport is situated near Heliopolis which is about 15 kilometres or 9.3 miles to the northeast of Cairo. It covers roughly 37 square kilometres of its land. This airport annually has a passenger traffic of 17.5 million. Hence, it is one of the busiest airports in Africa.
O. R. Tambo International Airport
O. R. Tambo International Airport is the most busy airport in Africa. This airport constitutes passenger traffic of 21.2 million each year which keeps it occupied most of the time. Recognized by its JNB Airport code, this is an international airport located in Kempton Park, South Africa. It has an extended surface area of 16,730,000 square meters.
Addis Ababa Bole International Airport
Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD Airport code). This airport is situated in the district of Bole which is 6 kilometres away from the southeast of the downtown. It has a passenger traffic of 12.1 million per year. This airport is among the busiest airports in Africa mainly due to its size. The size of this airport is 527 square kilometres.
Learn also the Top 10 Largest Airports in Asia
Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport is the leading international airport in Cape Town. It occupies a large surface area of 21,000 square meters. Its size enables it to attract millions of passengers. This international airport (CPT Airport code) handles around 10.7 million passengers every year, thus, making it listed among the top airports in Africa that are busy. This airport is situated approx 20 kilometres or 12 miles from downtown. Its convenient location can also be the reason for making it so busy.
Mohammed V International Airport
Situated in Nouaceur Province of the city of Casablanca, Morocco, Mohammed V International Airport comprises the CMN Airport code. Close to downtown Casablanca, this airport is only a 40-minute drive away. This international airport covers a large land area of 80,000 square meters. It handles nearly 9.7 million passengers annually. Due to this, it is believed by many this is one of the busiest airports in Africa.
Tenerife South Airport
Tenerife South Airport is a combination of two international airports situated in the Tenerife Islands. The airport with the TFS Airport code is located in Granadilla de Abona’s municipality. Covering an ample space of 2,034 square kilometres, it is counted in South Africa’s busiest airports. This airport has a massive passenger traffic of 11.04 million passengers serving each year.
Algiers Houari Boumediene Airport
Algiers Houari Boumediene Airport, recognized by its ALG Airport code, is the primary international airport in the city of Algiers. It is found 16.9 kilometres away from its city center. This airport occupies a surface area of 73 hectares. It has an enormous passenger traffic of 7.9 million per year. These reasons are enough to make it one of the busiest airports in Africa.
Hurghada International Airport
Hurghada International Airport is the only international airport in the city of Hurghada. Its location is 5 kilometres or 3.1 miles to the southwest of EI Dahar. EI Dahar is the city center of Hurghada. Being the only international airport, it is frequented by many flyers across the globe.
Also, this airport (HRG Airport code) has a big surface area of 92,000 square meters. As a result of this, it deals with much passenger traffic, roughly 6.6 million passengers in a year. Being placed on the list of top airports in Africa, this airport indeed surprises us with the huge number of passengers it attracts.
Murtala Muhammed International Airport
Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS Airport code) is an international airport in the Lagos State of Nigeria. This airport occupies a significant space of 3,345 square kilometres. It is considered to be among the 10 best airports in Africa as its massive space helps 6.5 million passengers to fly every year.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
An international airport in the city of Nairobi, the next airport in our list of the busiest airports in Africa is NBO. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, along with its NBO Airport code, is situated 18 kilometres or 11 miles to the southeast of the business district of Nairobi city, Kenya. This airport covers a large span of 3,00,000 meter squares. The reason why this airport is considered the busiest one on the continent is that it has a massive passenger traffic of 7.1 million passengers.
The Bottom Line
So, we believe you must have got a clear glimpse of the top 10 busiest airports in Africa. The number of passengers they draw each year is surprising. Also, having such a huge space, welcoming so many passengers becomes easier for these airports.
