Travel between Africa and the United States used to mean long layovers in Europe or the Gulf, unpredictable connection windows, and extra visa logistics. 

A growing number of African countries now operate nonstop (or near-nonstop) services to U.S. hubs, reducing travel times for students, business travellers, tourists, and the diaspora. 

These routes signal rising safety standards, stronger airlines, and deeper economic ties across the Atlantic.

Egypt

Cairo International Airport has evolved into a true North African gateway, connecting the region’s tourism, energy, and film industries to major U.S. cities. For travellers, the draw is reliability and scale: 

Cairo offers multiple weekly options, wide-body aircraft with decent cargo capacity, and onward links across the Middle East and North Africa.

The route has also become a lifeline for Egypt’s booming medical tourism and conference circuits, where time savings translate directly into deal flow.

Morocco

Casablanca sits on the western rim of Africa, perfectly placed for transatlantic hops. The nonstop link to New York does more than move people; it moves ideas.

Start-ups from Casablanca’s tech scene can pitch in Manhattan within hours, while tourists heading for Marrakech and Fez enjoy a simpler itinerary with fewer moving parts. 

With strong on-time performance and codeshares into the U.S. domestic network, travellers often clear immigration in one U.S. entry point and connect seamlessly onward.

Nigeria

Lagos–Atlanta is one of West Africa’s most economically important corridors. It connects Nigeria’s financial capital to a U.S. logistics and aviation powerhouse, tightening supply chains for oil and gas services, fintech, and creative industries.

For the diaspora, the route trims hours off journeys that once required European detours. 

It also spreads traffic more evenly across the calendar: December peaks remain busy, but direct options help families plan around school terms, weddings, and business deadlines with less risk of missed connections.

Ghana

Accra–New York has become a flagship West Africa–U.S. bridge. The service underpins Ghana’s tourism drive, think “December in GH,” heritage travel, and cultural festivals—and supports student mobility through easier campus arrivals each fall. 

Business travellers prize the route for predictable schedules and straightforward baggage handling. For first-time flyers, fewer transfers mean less stress: one check-in, one long flight, and you are done.

Senegal

Dakar’s coastal position makes it one of the shortest transatlantic jumps from mainland Africa to the U.S., a genuine time-saver for West African travellers. 

The city’s growing role as a conference and creative hub benefits from the route’s efficiency: film crews, sports teams, and entrepreneurs can move with fewer overnight stops, while exporters use the belly cargo space for high-value perishables and fashion shipments headed to U.S. buyers.

Kenya

Nairobi–New York is a long haul, roughly 15 hours eastbound, but it opens the U.S. market directly to East Africa’s safari heartland and thriving tech scene. Tour operators love the certainty it brings to premium itineraries: fewer connections mean fewer chances for bags or travellers to go missing. 

For the region’s start-ups, investors can now fly in and out on tighter schedules, accelerating fundraising and partnerships. The flight also supports horticulture and pharma logistics with dependable wide-body lift.

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport anchors a vast pan-African network, and its U.S. service is the tip of that spear. Even with a short technical stop on some rotations, the through journey is simpler than the old two-connection shuffle. 

The carrier’s strength is connectivity: travellers from dozens of African cities funnel into Addis and continue to Washington, D.C., on a single ticket, with coordinated baggage transfers and protected connections that reduce the risk and cost of delays.

South Africa

Johannesburg–Atlanta ranks among the longest nonstops in global aviation, but it pays off in time saved and predictability. For mining, finance, film, and higher education, shaving a connection off the trip is a competitive advantage. 

Corporate travellers can leave after a workday, sleep on the aircraft, and land with enough time to make morning meetings stateside. Tourists bound for the Kruger or the Cape also benefit: fewer layovers, more holiday.