Plans have been laid out to construct Africa’s new biggest airport which will cost over £5 billion to build and will handle over 100 million passengers every year once completed in five years.
Ethiopian Airlines is set to make a significant mark on the regional aviation landscape with its ambitious plan to build a massive airport in Ethiopia that will position the country as a major hub in Africa’s aviation
This mega-project in Abusera is a cornerstone of the airline’s 15-year strategy to become a world-leading aviation powerhouse.
Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Mesfin Tasew said in a press conference that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with Dubai-based consulting company Dar to develop the design for the airport.
With an initial completion date set for 2029 it is expected that the airport will accommodate 60 million passengers annually. Future expansions will increase this capacity to 110 million passengers per year.
Spearheaded by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) and Dar Al-Handasah Consultants, the airport’s terminal will span over 600,000 square meters with 126,000 square meters of airline support areas.
The layout aims to be intuitive and easy to navigate while the terminal will be spacious and light-filled aimed to offer a seamless flow of movement for passengers.
Set to have two parallel runways the airport will be built in Bishoftu, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, and stretch across 35 square kilometres (13.5 square miles), Mr Tasew explained.
ZHA’s Director of Aviation, Cristiano Ceccato, said the airport will put “Ethiopia at the very heart of the continent’s transportation networks”.
He said: “The new airport at Abusera will be a global gateway for Africa and place Ethiopia at the very heart of the continent’s transportation networks; connecting communities around the world with the most integrated air transport system.”
Serving over 150 destinations Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s largest airline in 2023/24 financial year it reported a revenue of $7 billion, carrying 17.1 million passengers.
This ambitious project was officially launched on August 3, 2016, with an agreement signed between Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, and Tariq Al-Khani, CEO of Dar.
