Summary
- Airlink leads with 65,245 flights in 2024 with a fleet of 65 Embraer aircraft.
- Safair comes in second for flights to and from JNB airport, with 38,438 flights in 2024.
- CemAir ranks third with 15,683 flights to and from JNB in 2024.
OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) is the primary airport of Johannesburg and Pretoria, serving more than 21 million passengers annually. The airport is South Africa’s busiest and major gateway to the country. Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport accommodates 110,286 arriving air traffic movements and services airlines from five continents worldwide. This article will examine the five airlines operating the most flights at JNB airport using 2024 data from an aviation analytics company, Cirium.
5
LIFT
Total flight number in 2024: 5,849
LIFT, owned by Global Aviation, is a South African airline that was established in 2020. It is fifth on the list of airlines operating the most flights at JNB airport, with the total number of flights to and from JNB reaching 5,849 in 2024. This is no surprise as JNB is its major hub, serving all its flights from JNB.
Photo: LIFT
According to its website, the airline currently operates 20 daily flights to three domestic destinations: JNB, Cape Town International Airport (CPT), and Durban International Airport (DUR). To sustain these operations, LIFT uses three Airbus A320-200 aircraft, with an average age of 34.8 years, according to ch-aviation data.
4
South African Airways
Total flight number in 2024: 15,316
South African Airways (SAA), the flag carrier of South Africa, ranks fourth in terms of the number of flights to and from JNB airport. According to Cirium data, the airline operated 15,316 flights to and from its main hub in 2024, serving 2.4 million seats.
Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis | Shutterstock
Since JNB airport is the airline’s main hub, all major flights to key destinations depart from JNB. SAA operates from Johannesburg to 32 destinations in 22 countries across the globe. Here are the most popular domestic and international destinations served by the airline to and from this airport:
- Domestic: Cape Town (CPT), Durban (DUR), East London (ELS), George (GRJ), Mthatha (UTT), Bloemfontein (BFN), Nelspruit (NLP), Phalaborwa (PHW), Polokwane (PTG), Port Elizabeth (PLZ), Richards Bay (RCB), and Upington (UTN).
- Regional: Accra (ACC), Blantyre (BLZ), Dar es Salaam (DAR), Entebbe (EBB), Harare (HRE), Kinshasa (FIH), Lagos (LOS), Lilongwe (LLW), Livingstone (LVI), Lusaka (LUN), Maputo (MPM), Mauritius (MRU), Nairobi (NBO), Victoria Falls (VFA), and Windhoek (WDH).
- International: Dubai (DXB), London (LHR), Frankfurt (FRA), Munich (MUC), New York (JFK), Perth (PER), São Paulo (GRU), and Washington DC (IAD).
According to ch-aviation data, the South African flag carrier has a fleet of 12 aircraft to sustain operations. This includes six Airbus A320-200s, two Airbus A330-300s, three wet-leased Boeing 737s, and a single Airbus A340 widebody aircraft.

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3
CemAir
Total flight number in 2024: 15,683
Established in 2005, CemAir is a South African airline serving popular domestic destinations across the country. It ranks as the third airline with the most flights to and from JNB, which is no surprise, as the carrier is based and headquartered at JNB airport.
Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky | Shutterstock
In 2024, the carrier had already operated 15,683 flights to and from JNB, accommodating 872,331 passengers. According to Planespotters.net, CemAir has 22 aircraft in its fleet, with an average age of 20.7 years. The fleet comprises:
- Nine Bombardier CRJ 100 Series jets
- Seven De Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprops
- Five Bombardier CRJ-900 jets
- A single Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet
It currently serves 11 domestic and three international destinations, with a few more to be launched shortly. It operates to and from South Africa’s three major airports, connecting the country’s famous ‘Golden Triangle.’
2
Safair
Total flight number in 2024: 38,438
Safair, with its low-cost arm FlySafair, is the second South African airline with the most flights to and from JNB airport. In 2024, the airline operated 38,438 flights to and from the airport, serving 7 million seats.
Photo: FlySafair
Along with FlySafair, Safair operates from its three main hubs: JNB Airport, Cape Town International Airport (CPT), and King Shaka International Airport (DUR) in Durban. According to ch-aviation data, the airline currently has a fleet of 33 aircraft with an average age of 26.4 years. The fleet comprises 27 Boeing 737-800s and six Boeing 737-400 jets. The airline currently operates to 15 destinations, including:
- Domestic: Johannesburg (JBN, HLA), Cape Town (CPT), Durban (DUR), East London (ESL), Port Elizabeth (PLZ), George (GRJ), Bloemfontein (BLN), and Mbombela (MQP).
- Regional: Mauritius (MRU), Zanzibar (ZNZ), Victoria Falls (VFA), Livingstone (LVI), Harare (HRE), and Maputo (MPM).
1
Airlink
Total flight number in 2024: 65,245
South African airline Airlink leads all airlines in flights to and from Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport, with 65,245 flights in 2024. Additionally, the airline has served 4.6 million seats while operating to and from JNB airport.
Photo: J de Reuck | Airlink
Airlink stands out for having the most flights to and from JNB airport and boasting the largest and youngest aircraft fleet among all airlines on this list. According to Planespotters.net, the airline currently operates a fleet of 65 aircraft with an average age of 17.5 years. Notably, the fleet consists exclusively of Embraer-made regional aircraft:
- 34 Embraer ERJ-190 jets
- 27 Embraer ERJ-145 jets
- 4 Embraer ERJ-170 jets
In addition, the airline also boasts an extensive route network covering more than 45 destinations in 15 African countries and to St Helena Island.

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What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever traveled to or from JNB airport? Please share your experiences in the comments section below.