O.R. Tambo International Airport — Johannesburg, South Africa

O.R. Tambo International Airport, coded JNB, ranks as the busiest airport on the African continent and serves as South African Airways' principal hub. Located in Kempton Park within the greater Johannesburg-Ekurhuleni metropolitan area, the airport was known for decades as Jan Smuts Airport before eventually being renamed to honor Oliver Tambo, the anti-apartheid leader and longtime president of the African National Congress, in the mid-2000s. JNB sits at an elevation above 5,500 feet, high enough that the thin air noticeably affects aircraft takeoff performance, a factor pilots and airlines must account for when planning departures. As South Africa's primary long-haul gateway, it connects the country to Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the rest of Africa, functioning as a critical transfer point for passengers traveling between continents. Johannesburg's status as the continent's financial and mining capital reinforces the airport's outsized commercial importance.