The largest airport in Africa by annual capacity is Cairo International Airport. Noteworthy, Africa has a total of 2102 airports 46 of which are large airports, 431 medium airports, and 1625 small airports.
In this article, we look at the 6 most significant of the 46 airports on the continent based on the proposed, current annual capacity.
Summary of the 6 largest airports in Africa by annual capacity
- Cairo International Airport (annual capacity 28 million)
- R. Tambo International Airport (annual capacity 28 million)
- Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (annual capacity 22 million)
- Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (annual capacity 18.50 million)
- Cape Town International Airport (annual capacity 15 million)
- Mohammed V International Airport (annual capacity 10 million)
1. Cairo International Airport
Cairo International Airport is located in Heliopolis, to the northeast of Cairo, Egypt, on an approximately 37 square kilometres piece of land. It was built during World War II, by the United States Army Air Forces as John Payne Field Air Force Base to serve the Allied Forces. When American forces left the base at the end of the war, the Civil Aviation Authority took over the facility and began using it for international civil aviation.
Currently, Cairo international airport is the largest airport in Africa covering a land area of approximately 37km2. Reportedly the airport has the capacity to handle about 28 million passengers per year. It is served by a total of three terminals and three 4000km runways.
2. R. Tambo International Airport
R. Tambo is located in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1952 as Jan Smuts International Airport, a name that was changed to Johannesburg International Airport in 1994 when the newly elected African National Congress (ANC) government implemented a policy of not naming airports after politicians. This policy was later reversed, and in October 2006 the airport was re-named after the anti-apartheid politician, Oliver Reginald Tambo.
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The airport is arguably the second largest in Africa with a total area of about 16.73 km2. It is equipped with 2 runways which measure 3400 and 4400 meters, 6 terminals, 5 domestic lounge offerings, 9 international lounges, and 140 retail stores. The airport can comfortably handle up to 28 million passengers per year.
3. Addis Ababa Bole International Airport
Formerly known as Haile Selassie I International Airport, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is located in the Bole district, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The airport was built in the 1960s after Ethiopian Airlines realized the runway at Lideta Airport, the former main air hub for Ethiopian, was too short for its new jet aircraft, the Boeing 720.
While there are no records showing the actual size of the airport, it is arguably the third largest in Africa with a capacity to handle between 22 million passengers per year. Currently, Bole International Airport is served by two terminals with 11 gates, plus more than 30 remote aircraft parking stands behind both Terminals.
4. Houari Boumediene International Airport
Also known as Algiers Airport or Algiers International Airport, this is the main international airport serving Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Particularly, the airport is located approximately 16.9 km east-southeast of the city. The airport was built back in 1924 and named Maison Blanche Airport.
Houari Boumediene International Airport features a total of about four terminals three runways and 1 helipad. It also has a 7000 capacity car park, and 320 rooms plus 3 restaurants hotel.
The airport’s full capacity is 18.5 million passengers a year thanks to its recently built runway.
5. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
JKIA is located in the Embakasi suburb approximately 18 kilometers southeast of Nairobi’s central business district in Kenya. It was originally named Embakasi Airport, but the name was changed in 1978 to honour Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, and prime minister.
Plans for the construction of the airport date back to 1945, a time that the colonial power (Britain) and its national airline, BOAC, was worried that the existing airport at Eastleigh was inadequate for post-War civilian airliners.
The actual construction work started in January 1954. In March 1958, Embakasi Airport was opened by the last colonial governor of Kenya, Sir Evelyn Baring. To date, the JKIA has two terminals, close to five lounges, and 2 runways. Its capacity is approximately 18.5 million passengers.
6. Cape Town International Airport
Located approximately 20 kilometres from the Cape Town City Centre in South Africa, Cape Town International Airport was opened back in 1954 as D.F. Malan Airport to replace Cape the city’s previous airport (Wingfield Aerodrome).
The airport is South Africa’s largest, covering a land area of about 2.8 km2. The airport’s capacity is not available however by assumption it could be more than 15 million passengers per year. Reportedly, in 2016 Cape Town International Airport handled up to 10 million passengers per annum without a strain.
Essentially the airport has one central terminal building that connects the north and south terminals.
7. Mohammed V International Airport
Mohammed V International Airport sits on a 1.1 km2 piece of land located in Nouaceur Province in the Moroccan region of Casablanca-Settat. The airport was built by the United States in early 1943 following Operation Torch in World War II.
It was named Berrechid Airfield and it served as an auxiliary airfield for Casablanca’s Anfa Airport. After the end of the war in 1945, the airfield was handed over to the civil government. During the Cold War in the early and middle 1950s, the airfield was reopened as Nouasseur Air Base and was used as the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. These operations later moved to Ben Guerir Air Base.
There are two operative terminals in Mohammed V International Airport i.e. Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. However there is also a third terminal, Terminal 3, that is currently out of service. While the airport’s capacity is not readily available, there are reports that in 2010 it comfortably served about 7.2 million passengers per year. This could be an indication that its capacity is upwards of 10 million.
