Green light for building ‘biggest airport in Africa’

Ethiopian Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai-based consulting firm Dar to design a new US$6 billion airport, which would be the biggest in Africa if completed, according to local media reports.

A Boeing 747-400 aircraft taxies at Tinian International Airport

A Boeing 747-400 aircraft taxies at an airport (Image: Sgt. Justin Pack, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

The new hub will have four runways and be able to handle approximately 100 million passengers a year.

The airport will be located in Bishoftu, around 40km (25 miles) southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, and will cover an area of 35 square km (13.5 square miles).

According to Ethiopian state media, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew, said that, “The first phase includes the construction of the airport facility with a capacity of 60 million passengers per year and the completion of phase two of the airport project will grow to handling more than 100 million passengers per year.”

Once the design has been completed the project will be put out to tender.

The main airport in Ethipia is currently Bole Addis Ababa International Airport, which is reported to be reaching its capacity of serving 25 million passengers per year.