Air Peace recorded Africa’s biggest increase in scheduled airline capacity in July 2026, underscoring the Nigerian carrier’s rapid expansion and highlighting Nigeria’s emergence as one of the continent’s fastest-growing aviation markets.
According to the latest African aviation market report by global travel data provider OAG, Air Peace added about 121,000 scheduled seats in July compared with the corresponding period of 2025, representing a 50.6 per cent year-on-year increase, the largest capacity gain among Africa’s leading airlines.
The expansion also returned Air Peace to OAG’s ranking of Africa’s 10 largest airlines by scheduled capacity after several months outside the list. The airline ranked 10th overall with approximately 360,000 scheduled seats for the month.
Royal Air Maroc recorded the second-largest increase in capacity, adding about 120,100 seats, equivalent to 16.4 per cent year-on-year growth.
Despite Air Peace’s rapid expansion, Ethiopian Airlines retained its position as Africa’s largest carrier, operating about 2.1 million scheduled seats in July, an increase of 12.1 per cent, or roughly 230,000 additional seats, from a year earlier.
The report showed that Africa’s aviation market continued its recovery and expansion, with total scheduled airline capacity rising 7.5 per cent year on year to 26.3 million seats.
International operations accounted for 79 per cent of total capacity across the continent, with international seat capacity increasing 6.6 per cent, while domestic services recorded faster growth of 11.1 per cent.
OAG said North Africa remained the continent’s largest aviation market, while West and Central Africa posted the strongest growth during the period.
Nigeria emerged as the fastest-growing among Africa’s largest aviation markets. Total scheduled airline capacity in the country climbed 44.5 per cent year on year to 1.22 million seats from 847,200 seats recorded in July 2025. Domestic capacity rose even faster, increasing 54.8 per cent to 921,100 seats.
Egypt retained its position as Africa’s largest aviation market with 2.9 million scheduled seats, while Nigeria ranked fifth behind Egypt, South Africa, Morocco and Ethiopia. Algeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana completed the list of the continent’s 10 largest aviation markets.
Air Peace’s capacity growth reflects its ongoing fleet expansion strategy aimed at strengthening domestic, regional and international operations.
The airline has steadily expanded its fleet over the past year, taking delivery of a Boeing 737-700 aircraft under a dry lease arrangement in November 2025, adding a Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft in May 2026, and receiving its first Embraer 190 aircraft in June 2026.
The additional aircraft have enabled the carrier to increase frequencies and expand services across its network as demand for air travel continues to recover.
The report comes as Nigeria pursues broader reforms to strengthen its aviation industry. In May, the Federal Government approved the establishment of the Nigeria Aircraft Leasing Company, a special purpose vehicle designed to improve domestic airlines’ access to aircraft through sovereign-backed leasing arrangements.
The initiative is expected to reduce fleet acquisition constraints, lower dependence on costly short-term wet leases, and support the long-term expansion of Nigerian carriers.
Air Peace’s latest performance signals growing momentum in Nigeria’s aviation sector as airlines increase capacity to meet rising passenger demand while positioning themselves for stronger regional and international competition.