Ethiopia has signed an agreement to design a new four-runway airport that will be Africa’s largest when completed in 2029, the head of state-owned Ethiopian Airlines said on Friday. The airport is located near the town of Bishoftu, about 45 kilometers from the capital Addis Ababa. It will have a capacity of 100 million passengers a year and parking for 270 aircraft, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew said at a news conference.
Dubai-based engineering and consulting firm Sidara will design the airport, said the company’s operations director Tariq Al Qanni. Plans to build the airport were first announced in 2018. Mesfin said Bole Addis Ababa International Airport, currently the main hub of Africa’s largest airline, will soon reach its capacity of 25 million passengers a year.
Dubai International Airport welcomed a record 44.9 million travelers in the first half of 2023, signaling a strong post-pandemic recovery. With a planned move to a new $35 billion airfield over the next decade, Dubai’s tourism and real estate sectors are also booming, underscoring the city’s growing global importance. The airport had 89.1 million passengers in 2018, its busiest year before the pandemic. In 2022, that figure was 66 million and in 2023, 86.9 million passengers.
“It is a five-year project that will be completed in 2029. It will be the biggest in Africa,” Mesfin said. “Phase one alone will cost at least USD 6 billion… The money will come through loans and there are already companies that have shown interest.” Ethiopian Airlines carried 17 million passengers in the 2023/2024 financial year and expects to carry 20 million passengers in the fiscal year that began in July.
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