South Africa Top for African Business Flights

South Africa Top for African Business Flights Written by Mark Smith. Published on 18th June, 2018. Category: Travel Guides

South Africa tops the list as the country with the busiest flights for air routes across Africa, recent research has revealed. The independent research has shown that of the 10 busiest routes in the continent, just three African countries are present: Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa, with most of the flights being internal, or domestic flights.

Cape Town to Jo’burg twice in top five

The research, by events-industry firm Research by Routes, showed that the busiest route throughout the continent was the direct link between Cape Town and Johannesburg, a popular flight for those on business trips in South Africa. This route appeared twice in the top five, with the operation into Johannesburg’s O. R. Tambo International Airport.

For 2017, the figures showed that the 800-mile flight was taken by around 13,000 people every day, averaging out at 95 flights. This also makes it the 12th most busy in the world; far outstripping the busiest route in Europe, (from Paris Orly to Toulouse), by two times the volume.

The second busiest flight is also in South Africa, this time from Johannesburg to Durban. This sees nearly half the number of passengers, at around 8,000, taking their seat each day for the 310-mile trip.

The research also showed that the busiest international flight out of the continent was from Cairo to Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. A beautiful flight along the Red Sea, which is again popular with business travellers in the Middle East and Arabia, it saw more than 4,500 people per day take to the skies for the 755-mile trip. This also makes it the third busiest route for the whole continent.

Coming in at number four was the domestic route from the Nigerian capital of Abuja, to the country’s largest city of Lagos. This saw around 3,500 passengers make the 318-mile flight each day.

The fifth busiest flight in Africa was also from Cape Town to Johannesburg. With an average number of 3,400 passengers flying the route each day, the final destination here was Johannesburg’s Lanseria airport. This means that on a daily basis a total of more than 16,000 fly between the two main cities of the biggest economy in the African continent.

South Africa significant in bottom five

Coming in at six, seven and eighth place on the list are also South African routes.

In at number six is the domestic scheduled flight from Durban to Cape Town, which sees around 3,100 daily passengers. Coming it at a very close number seven is the route from Johannesburg’s O. R. Tambo to Port Elizabeth. This sees around 3,000 people taking the flight each day of the year.

In at number eight is the longest route to leave the continent. Taking a journey of 4,000 miles, the flight from Johannesburg O. R. Tambo to Dubai sees 2,800 travellers boarding the flight. Interestingly, one service on the route each day sees an Airbus A380, (often known as a SuperJumbo), put into operation.

Taking up the final two places are routes departing from Egypt, with both flights taking off from Cairo International Airport and flying into the Middle East.

The ninth busiest flight lands at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. This sees around 2,700-passengers on a daily basis.

The tenth flight, also with an average daily passenger list of 2,700, lands at Kuwait International Airport.

Whether you are flying on a business flight to Africa, the Middle East or further afield, Just Fly Business can help. With the best deals on the most popular business routes, and able to help you design your trip perfectly to your needs, we are the people to call.