Murtala Muhammed International Airport — Lagos, Nigeria

Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and commercial engine even after the capital officially moved to Abuja in the 1990s, relies on LOS as its primary international gateway, an airport named for Murtala Muhammed, a military head of state whose brief but consequential rule ended with his assassination during an attempted coup in 1976. Serving a metropolitan area whose population numbers in the many millions, the airport ranks among the busiest in West Africa, reflecting Lagos's outsized role in regional trade, entertainment, and finance. A newer terminal, built with Chinese financing and opened in the mid-2010s, added capacity alongside the older General Aviation Terminal that had handled decades of steadily rising traffic. Lagos's status as home to Nollywood and a booming technology sector keeps demand for both passenger and cargo capacity strong. Congestion and the surrounding city's notorious road traffic remain persistent challenges for travelers reaching the airport.