Seventy four commercial passenger airlines from African countries carried total 159.4 mln passengers in 2017. The biggest carrier on the continent is Ethiopian Airlines with 10 mln passengers and 36 213 mln total passenger-kilometers. But even Ethiopian is beyond the first hundred in the World. EgyptAir, Royal Air Maroc, South African Airways and Air Algerie complete the first five in Africa.
| Rank | RankWorld | NatRank | Air carrier | State | Passengers carried | Passsenger-km performed (x1000) |
| 1 | 104 | 1 | ETHIOPIAN | ETHIOPIA | 10 023 789 | 36 213 620 |
| 2 | 120 | 1 | EGYPT AIR | EGYPT | 8 455 647 | 18 476 122 |
| 3 | 136 | 1 | ROYAL AIR MAROC | MOROCCO | 7 296 556 | 16 847 948 |
| 4 | 144 | 1 | SAA | SOUTH AFRICA | 6 438 192 | 19 837 279 |
| 5 | 149 | 1 | AIR ALGERIE | ALGERIA | 5 989 025 | 7 348 764 |
| 6 | 156 | 2 | COMAIR LTD | SOUTH AFRICA | 5 690 081 | 5 553 108 |
| 7 | 199 | 1 | KENYA AIRWAYS | KENYA | 3 916 362 | 10 595 585 |
| 8 | 201 | 1 | TUNIS AIR | TUNISIA | 3 863 888 | 6 346 478 |
| 9 | 230 | 3 | MANGO | SOUTH AFRICA | 2 903 740 | 3 043 383 |
| 10 | 264 | 4 | SAFAIR | SOUTH AFRICA | 2 121 359 | 2 194 283 |
| 11 | 273 | 1 | ARIK AIR | NIGERIA | 1 897 322 | 1 336 981 |
| 12 | 298 | 5 | SA AIRLINK | SOUTH AFRICA | 1 473 365 | 1 135 907 |
| 13 | 304 | 1 | TAAG | ANGOLA | 1 360 517 | 3 960 565 |
| 14 | 309 | 6 | SA EXPRESS AIRWAYS | SOUTH AFRICA | 1 295 805 | 829 391 |
| 15 | 310 | 2 | AIR CAIRO | EGYPT | 1 291 623 | 2 679 852 |
| 16 | 316 | 3 | NILE AIR | EGYPT | 1 248 426 | 1 349 162 |
| 17 | 321 | 2 | AIR ARABIA MAROC | MOROCCO | 1 211 313 | 2 244 155 |
| 18 | 346 | 7 | CEMAIR | SOUTH AFRICA | 938 490 | 626 416 |
| 19 | 355 | 1 | AIR COTE D’IVOIRE | COTE D’IVOIRE | 788 098 | 698 522 |
| 20 | 361 | 2 | DANA AIR | NIGERIA | 772 551 | 424 517 |
| 21 | 366 | 1 | RWANDAIR | RWANDA | 739 674 | 1 088 210 |
| 22 | 376 | 1 | AIR SEYCHELLES | SEYCHELLES | 650 648 | 1 535 466 |
| 23 | 382 | 1 | AIR NAMIBIA | NAMIBIA | 623 993 | 1 577 310 |
| 24 | 386 | 1 | LIBYAN AIRLINES | LIBYA | 612 760 | 692 471 |
| 25 | 397 | 1 | LAM | MOZAMBIQUE | 569 829 | 580 757 |
| 26 | 399 | 4 | FlyEgypt | EGYPT | 564 322 | 1 392 976 |
| 27 | 401 | 1 | FASTJET | UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA | 557 314 | 399 765 |
| 28 | 416 | 5 | ALMASRIA | EGYPT | 510 618 | 798 968 |
| 29 | 418 | 1 | ASKY AIRLINES | TOGO | 500 686 | 517 319 |
| 30 | 419 | 2 | AFRIQIYAH | LIBYA | 499 787 | 695 729 |
| 31 | 421 | 1 | AIR MADAGASCAR | MADAGASCAR | 487 659 | 751 722 |
| 32 | 422 | 2 | PRECISION AIR SERVICES . | UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA | 485 423 | 218 985 |
| 33 | 423 | 3 | Med-View Airline | NIGERIA | 484 030 | 250 609 |
| 34 | 426 | 2 | NOUVELAIR TUNISIE | TUNISIA | 476 475 | 725 701 |
| 35 | 431 | 6 | NESMA AIRLINES | EGYPT | 460 486 | 513 215 |
| 36 | 440 | 1 | MAURITANIENNE AIRLINES INTL | MAURITANIA | 418 817 | 544 887 |
| 37 | 446 | 1 | CEIBA INTERCONTINENTAL | EQUATORIAL GUINEA | 379 445 | 272 434 |
| 38 | 453 | 1 | TACV | CABO VERDE | 358 052 | 528 086 |
| 39 | 463 | 1 | TRANS-AIR-CONGO | CONGO | 333 899 | 428 063 |
| 40 | 467 | 1 | SUDANAIR | SUDAN | 321 450 | 622 946 |
| 41 | 473 | 7 | AIR ARABIA EGYPT | EGYPT | 308 016 | 454 174 |
| 42 | 475 | 2 | Jambojet | KENYA | 305 124 | 107 575 |
| 43 | 477 | 3 | FLY540 | KENYA | 302 764 | 148 730 |
| 44 | 479 | 1 | C.A.A. | DEM. REP. OF THE CONGO | 297 149 | 456 490 |
| 45 | 486 | 1 | AIR ZIMBABWE | ZIMBABWE | 282 539 | 171 543 |
| 46 | 494 | 2 | TASSILI AIRLINES | ALGERIA | 252 899 | 229 898 |
| 47 | 498 | 4 | SAFARILINK | KENYA | 237 233 | 60 438 |
| 48 | 501 | 5 | AIR KENYA EXPRESS | KENYA | 225 044 | 53 117 |
| 49 | 505 | 2 | SONAIR | ANGOLA | 220 875 | 575 580 |
| 50 | 506 | 1 | AIR BOTSWANA | BOTSWANA | 220 844 | 98 011 |
| 51 | 508 | 3 | TUNINTER | TUNISIA | 215 224 | 143 077 |
| 52 | 516 | 4 | Azman Air | NIGERIA | 174 409 | 224 473 |
| 53 | 518 | 1 | STARBOW AIRLINES | GHANA | 167 845 | 68 839 |
| 54 | 524 | 1 | PROFLIGHT COMMUTER SERVIC | ZAMBIA | 154 573 | 67 974 |
| 55 | 527 | 1 | AIR BURKINA | BURKINA FASO | 145 049 | 124 317 |
| 56 | 535 | 2 | AFRICA WORLD AIRLINES LTD | GHANA | 131 539 | 128 295 |
| 57 | 541 | 2 | CRONOSAIR | EQUATORIAL GUINEA | 116 877 | 37 407 |
| 58 | 553 | 1 | ERITREAN AIRLINES | ERITREA | 102 729 | 100 846 |
| 59 | 572 | 6 | AFRICAN EXPRESS AIRWAYS | KENYA | 76 773 | 60 923 |
| 60 | 588 | 5 | OVERLAND | NIGERIA | 59 563 | 49 783 |
| 61 | 590 | 6 | AERO CONTRACTORS | NIGERIA | 58 842 | 26 812 |
| 62 | 592 | 3 | AIR LIBYA TIBESTI | LIBYA | 55 005 | 52 693 |
| 63 | 593 | 1 | Fly Mid Africa | GAMBIA | 53 735 | 40 143 |
| 64 | 598 | 3 | AURIC AIR SERVICES | UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA | 51 575 | 9 163 |
| 65 | 601 | 7 | EAST AFRICAN SAFARI AIR | KENYA | 46 276 | 26 786 |
| 66 | 610 | 8 | AIR SINAI | EGYPT | 38 926 | 15 142 |
| 67 | 618 | 1 | EAGLE AIR | UGANDA | 31 722 | 2 349 |
| 68 | 628 | 2 | AEROLINK UGANDA LTD | UGANDA | 23 215 | 4 919 |
| 69 | 634 | 4 | BURAQ AIR | LIBYA | 18 872 | 24 987 |
| 70 | 646 | 1 | AIR NIGER | NIGER | 14 713 | 8 720 |
| 71 | 651 | 4 | AIR TANZANIA | UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA | 12 725 | 9 927 |
| 72 | 656 | 1 | ULENDO AIRLINK | MALAWI | 10 545 | 2 396 |
| 73 | 667 | 2 | BADR AIRLINES | SUDAN | 7 291 | 15 064 |
| 74 | 679 | 1 | JUBBA AIRWAYS | SOMALIA | 4 486 | 3 633 |
| AFRICA Total | 159 481 881 |
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