ADDIS ABABA,- Ethiopia has signed an agreement to design a new four-runway airport that will become the largest in Africa once completed in 2029, Ethiopian Airlines’ CEO, Mesfin Tasew, announced on Friday.
The new airport will be located near the town of Bishoftu, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the capital, Addis Ababa. Once finished, it will have the capacity to handle 100 million passengers annually and provide parking for 270 aircraft, Mesfin revealed during a news conference.
The design of the airport will be undertaken by Dubai-based engineering and consulting firm Sidara, according to Tariq Al Qanni, the company’s director of operations.
Plans for the massive infrastructure project were initially announced in 2018. Mesfin noted that Bole Addis Ababa International Airport, the current hub for Ethiopian Airlines, is approaching its maximum capacity of 25 million passengers per year.
“The new airport is a five-year project that will be finalized in 2029. It will be the biggest in Africa,” Mesfin stated. He added that the first phase alone will cost at least $6 billion, with funding expected to come from loans, and several companies have already expressed interest in financing the project.
Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, transported 17 million passengers during the 2023/2024 financial year and anticipates increasing that number to 20 million in the current financial year, which began in July.
Source: Reuters