South Africa's airports handled more than 20.5 million passengers in the 2025/26 financial year, according to Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), which runs the country's nine main commercial airports. That's 98% of pre-pandemic traffic and an 8.5% jump on the previous year — a recovery driven by more frequent flights, bigger aircraft and new routes from over 15 airlines.

The money side looks healthy too. ACSA pulled in R8.8 billion in revenue (up 11.6%) and net profit of R1.2 billion. Interestingly, the company now earns almost as much from shops, parking, property and car hire (R4.1 billion) as from aviation charges (R4.7 billion). Retail alone brought in R1.4 billion, property rentals R1.1 billion, parking R614 million and car rentals R430 million — proof that the airport experience in South Africa has become a business well beyond the runway.

Where the money is going

ACSA has upped capital spending to R1.079 billion this year, but that's just a slice of a R21.7 billion investment programme rolling out across the network. The big-ticket item is a new cargo terminal at Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo International Airport, estimated at R5.7 billion and due for completion in 2028/29, plus international bussing gates and terminal refurbishments.

Cape Town International Airport is getting an international terminal upgrade, new domestic contact gates and a realigned main runway to boost capacity. Travellers flying in or out of the Mother City should brace for construction activity and shifting passenger flows as work progresses.

The upgrades aren't only about the two big hubs. Gqeberha's Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport will see terminal extensions, better parking and runway rehabilitation. King Phalo Airport in East London is revamping its departure lounge and arrivals area, King Shaka in Durban is upgrading a taxiway, and Bloemfontein's Bram Fischer International Airport is being positioned — alongside the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality — as a larger regional tourism and logistics hub.

New routes to know

Six international routes launched from Johannesburg during the year, linking the city with Perth, Algiers, Zanzibar, Nacala, Libreville and Gaborone. For travellers, that means more direct options into southern, western and North Africa, plus easier Indian Ocean escapes, without backtracking through the Gulf or Europe.

Why it matters

If you're planning a South African trip in the next few years, this story is basically about your future airport experience: more capacity, new connections and smarter terminals — but also scaffolding, detours and the occasional gate change in the meantime. Domestic flyers through East London, Gqeberha and Durban will notice the improvements at smaller airports too, and Bloemfontein could become a genuinely useful alternative gateway as its hub ambitions take shape. The short version: book with confidence, but build in a bit of buffer time at Cape Town and Joburg while the building sites are live.