As reported by Reuters, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines revealed to members of the press that the airport will have capacity to handle 100 million passengers a year and provide parking for 270 aircraft,
The airport would be situated near the town of Bishoftu, around 45 km (28 miles) from the country’s capital Addis Ababa.
Sidara, a Dubai-based engineering and consulting business, has been contracted to design the airport, according to the company’s head of operations, Tariq Al Qanni.
“It is a five-year project (that) will be finalized in 2029. It will be the biggest in Africa,” Mesfin stated. “Phase one alone will cost at least $6 billion… The money will come through loans and there are already companies that have already shown interest,” he added.
Initial plans
Plans for the airport were first announced in 2018, as seen on Africannews. Then it was announced that when fully operational, the airport will have the ability to handle eighty million passengers per year. The facility will encompass 35 square kilometers.
“Because Bole Airport is not going to accommodate us; we have a beautiful expansion project, the airport looks very beautiful and very large but with the growth that we are going every year in about 3 or 4 years we are going to be full. So we have started a new project around Bishoftu, a place called Absera,” Mesfin said at the time.
“We have identified 35 square kilometer land to be developed as an airport and it is about 5 billion USD project larger than the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). And it is going to accommodate 100 million passengers; larger than Dubai and more or less equal to the new Istanbul airport,” he added.
