The top African airlines

Defining the term of the top African airlines is not a simple matter, as airlines have many benchmarks to compare. Some might set their benchmarks according to fleet size and revenue, and others measure benchmarks by asset value and market value. It is something that needs many experts.

However, no matter how much we change the standards with, these airlines here remain the top in the African Continent. 

Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines is considered one of the largest airlines in Africa in terms of the number of passengers carried, the destinations provided, and the size of the revenue. This progress isn’t a result of luck, but it is preceded by the introduction of effort and fatigue that appeared in this amazing progress, as the airlines developed a plan in 2010 and followed it carefully and keenly.

The plan was for Ethiopian Airlines to become the top airline in the continent. It has outdone established airlines such as EgyptAir and South African Airways.

The digital progress of Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines was able to expand its network of lines to reach 125 passenger destinations, including 20 domestic destinations and 44 cargo destinations. In 2017, Ethiopian Airlines carried about 11 million passengers, an increase of 17.6% compared to 2016, which illustrates the tremendous progress of the Airline.

Star Alliance has implemented a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025, which aims to position Ethiopian Airlines as the leading airline in Africa through seven strategic business units.

In 2018, the company ranked first in Africa and 65th in the world in terms of the total number of daily flights, reaching 348 daily flights.

South African Airways

South African airline is located in Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa, and operates from “Cape Town International Airport” in Cape Town and “OR Tambo International Airport” near the capital. South African Airlines is a member of the Global Star Alliance. Ranked 67th in the world in terms of the total daily number of flights, South African airlines and Ethiopian Airlines are the only two companies in Africa ranking in the top 100 aviation companies in the world.

EgyptAir

An Egyptian governmental company affiliated with the holding company of EgyptAir, the established airline is located in the capital of Egypt, Cairo, and Cairo International Airport is the centre of its operations. 

It provides services to more than 80 destinations throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and the United States.

EgyptAir is one of the top airlines in Africa, and a member of the Arab Air Transport Association, plus, it joined as a member of the Star Alliance-Union in 2008. 

EgyptAir won the Best Airline Award in the Middle East in 2009 within the framework of the activities of the International Tourism Investment Conference held in Mozambique.

Algerian airlines

The Algerian airline company is located in Oudan the capital of Algerian, it is a government airline. It flies to about 39 destinations in more than 28 countries around the world, in addition to its domestic destinations. Air Algerie owns a fleet of about 43 Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

The company is a member of both the International Air Transport Association and the Arab Air Transport Association, as well as in the Union of African Airlines. The Algerian airline did not stop there, but rather signed an alliance agreement with the German company Lufthansa in the process of implementing a comprehensive development program and expansions at its main airport to increase its shares.

Royal Air Maroc

Royal Air Maroc is the legacy Moroccan airline. It takes Mohammed V International Airport as the centre of its operations and launch. One of the largest airlines in Africa, Royal Air Maroc expanded to reach Africa, Asia, South America and North America, and the number of passengers reached 7.3 million in 2018.

In 2018, many changes took place in the Royal Air Maroc, such as converting a Boeing 767 passenger plane into a cargo plane, opening new shipping lines, the departure of another Boeing 767 from the fleet, the departure of the last Boeing 747 from the fleet and the entry of the first two Boeing aircraft. 787-9 and Boeing 737 MAX 8 for the fleet.

In 2019, Morocco wanted to expand its lines, so new lines were opened from Casablanca to Bouarfa, Amman, Vienna, Athens, Miami, Boston, and the Casablanca-Nairobi line stopped. In the same year, the Moroccan company opened a new centre for its operations at El-Ayoun Hassan I airport and began launching its domestic flights to connect El-Ayoun, Marrakesh and Guelmim, and to reinforce the links between Laayoune, Dakhla, Agadir and Las Palmas.

In 2020 Casablanca-Beijing and Rabat-El-Ayoun Line were opened, and the Moroccan Royal Company joined the One World alliance.

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