According to the CEO of state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, the country has inked a design agreement for a new four-runway airport that would be the largest in Africa when construction is finished in 2029.
Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Mesfin Tasew stated during a press conference that the airport, which is around 45 kilometers from the country’s capital Addis Ababa and close to the town of Bishoftu, will be able to accommodate 100 million passengers annually and have space for 270 aircraft.
Tariq Al Qanni, head of operations at Sidara, a Dubai-based engineering and consulting business, indicated that the airport will be designed by the company.
Plans to build the airport were first announced in 2018.
Mesfin said Bole Addis Ababa International Airport, the current main hub for Africa’s biggest airline, will soon reach its capacity of serving 25-million passengers per year.
“It is a five-year project [that] will be finalised in 2029. It will be the biggest in Africa,” Mesfin said.
“Phase 1 alone will cost at least $6bn [R109.81bn] … The money will come through loans and there are already companies that already showed interest.”
Ethiopian Airlines carried 17-million passengers in the 2023/2024 financial year, and expects to carry 20-million passengers in the financial year that started in July.
