While South African travellers have been navigating the immediate consequences of Middle East airspace closures over the past two months, another story has been unfolding beneath the noise, and it will dramatically influence how South Africans travel internationally for the next decade.
New data published in March 2026 by the African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA®) in its Africa in the Air: Aviation and Tourism Outlook 2026 report reveals that, in the first 10 months of 2026 alone, 182.4 million departure seats are available across Africa, which is a 13.7% increase on the same period in 2025, and double the growth rate recorded between 2024 and 2025. International seats out of Africa have grown by 18.6%, and South Africa’s own departure seats are up 19.6% year on year – growth which has been driven almost entirely by international carriers competing for South African passengers, making it one of the world’s most commercially attractive long-haul markets.
The tourism numbers are equally striking. Africa recorded 10% tourism growth in the first nine months of 2025, the strongest of any region globally. Furthermore, five African nations feature in the UN Tourism World Tourism Barometer’s global top 20 best-performing destinations: Egypt up 20%, South Africa up 19%, Ethiopia up 15%, Morocco up 14%, and the Seychelles up 13%.
“What these numbers tell us is that South African travellers have never had more options for getting where they want to go,” says Sue Garrett, GM Supply, Pricing & Marketing at Flight Centre South Africa. “The routes are there, the capacity is growing, and the expertise to navigate it all is exactly what a Travel Expert provides.”
The hub network South Africans didn’t know they had
For decades, the Gulf hub model has defined how South Africans reach the world. Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi became the default stopovers on the way to Europe, Asia, and beyond, and with good reason. After all, the ME3 carriers offer competitive pricing and an unbeatable onward network.
What the current disruption has exposed is not the failure of that model, but the emergence of a parallel one. Africa’s own hub network, anchored by Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Casablanca, has been quietly expanding in scale and capability to the point where aviation analysts are now describing it as offering genuine long-term network resilience.
“Africa’s expanding hubs now offer South African travellers real options, not as replacements for the Gulf carriers, but as a genuinely capable parallel network that makes the overall system more resilient. That’s good news for every South African who travels internationally, regardless of which carrier or routing they choose,” comments Garrett.
Here’s a closer look at what that network actually encompasses.
Addis Ababa
The continent’s most powerful aviation story. Ethiopian Airlines has 23.8 million departure seats scheduled for January to October 2026, up from 20.9 million in all of 2024, cementing its position as Africa’s largest international carrier. The airline has committed to a 30% co-investment in the new $12.5 billion Bishoftu International Airport, signalling that this growth is structural rather than cyclical.
Ethiopian Airlines’ Addis Ababa hub provides onward connections to several of South Africa’s most-loved international destinations, including the UK, Singapore, and Paris, three of the top five in Flight Centre’s Year in Travel 2025 report, as well as strong connectivity across East Africa, including Zanzibar, which ranked fifth on that same list.
Nairobi
East Africa’s premier transit hub is growing rapidly, with Kenya’s departure seats up 22.3% year on year to 10.2 million. Kenya Airways operates an expanding network that connects South African travellers onward to Amsterdam and London, both in Flight Centre’s top 10 international destinations for 2025, as well as to destinations across East and Central Africa. The airline’s layover programme, which includes city tours and half-day safaris to Nairobi National Park, has made it an increasingly attractive option for South African travellers willing to turn a transit into an experience.
Casablanca
Morocco is North Africa’s fastest-growing market, with departure seats up 21.8% to 22.5 million. Royal Air Maroc connects South Africa onward to Paris (South Africa’s sixth most popular international destination in 2025) and to various other European cities. Morocco’s open skies agreement with the EU means the country is served by both mainline and low-cost European carriers, giving onward travellers unusual flexibility on the European leg.
What Smart South African travellers should know now
The practical implications of Africa’s aviation transformation are immediate and specific.
The route landscape is more option-rich than it has ever been.
There’s now more than one viable routing option (often significantly more) for almost every destination in South Africa’s top 10 international list. For the first time, South African travellers are no longer dependent on any single hub or carrier to reach the world.
Hub choice is now a meaningful booking decision. Whether routing via Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Amsterdam, London, or a Gulf hub, South African travellers now have access to a genuinely diverse set of intercontinental connectors, each with its own onward network, stopover experience, and risk profile. Understanding those differences, and matching the right routing to the right trip, is increasingly part of what smart international travel planning looks like.
Flexibility matters more than ever. The current environment has demonstrated, at scale, that the difference between a refundable and non-refundable fare is the difference between a manageable disruption and a significant financial loss. Travellers booking with any carrier right now should prioritise fare flexibility above almost any other consideration.
The value of expert guidance has never been more concrete. Flight Centre’s Global PR Survey found that 97% of South African travel intenders see value in using a travel agent, the highest of any market globally. In a landscape where route options, hub resilience, airline schedules, and fare conditions are all shifting simultaneously, that expertise is both a convenience and a practical advantage with measurable financial implications.
“The South African travel market has always been resilient and resourceful,” says Garrett. “What this moment has revealed is that the aviation landscape serving that market is becoming equally resilient. Africa’s own hubs are growing in capability and confidence, and the Gulf carriers are returning stronger and more committed to this market than ever. For South African travellers who know how to navigate all of that, or who have someone helping them do so, the options have genuinely never been better.”
The Middle East disruption will resolve – its timeline uncertain, but its eventual conclusion inevitable. When it does, South African travellers will return to a travel environment that looks meaningfully different from the one they left. More connected, more resilient, and more African than it has ever been. That is not a consolation story. It’s the main event.
