Ethiopia, construction of the 100 million passenger airport is underway

• Published: 12 February 2020
• Law Firm: Bonelli Erede Lombardi Pappalardo

Addis Ababa launches the challenge of the skies and is a candidate to be the key junction for Africa and from the African continent to the world. To do this, infrastructure is needed. And the project is ready: in the coming months the construction of the new airport of the capital will begin, which will be larger than those of Dubai and Paris, able to accommodate one hundred million passengers a year. The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam, reported on the project in an interview with the Ena news agency.
According to the manager, the airport will cost about five billion dollars and will be located in Bishoftu, about forty kilometers south-east of the capital. The affected area will be 35 square kilometers, larger than that of the UAE airport and Charles de Gaulle. The new airport will rank among the largest in the world, with greater capacity than London Heathrow and Dubai, which are currently among the world's busiest for international flights. Shopping centers and hotels are planned, in particular in the Absera area, already granted in concession by the regional government of Oromia.
The launch of the project, according to GebreMariam, is expected to begin within six months. With the new airport it should be possible to decongest the current airport of the capital, the Bole International Airport. Last year, a new $ 363 million terminal was opened that can handle up to approximately twenty million passengers, compared to the previous capacity of seven million. But it is already predicted that it will be insufficient over the next three to four years.
The construction of the new international airport is part of an expansion strategy over the next fifteen years that has led the airline to open new routes and forge new alliances Currently Ethiopian Airlines has a fleet of over 120 aircraft and serves 129 destinations, including 107 international. in 75 countries. "All the objectives we had planned for Vision 2025 - said GebreMariam - were completed by 2018. We have created the new Vision 2035 which aims to increase the fleet, passengers, destinations and in particular the new airport". The company expects an expansion that will allow it to reach the target of 22 million passengers by 2025. In 2025 direct flights with foreign countries will be 120. Recently it has opened subsidiary airlines in several African states - Malawi,
The carrier recorded revenues of almost four billion dollars in the 2018-2019 fiscal year ended July last year (+ 18% compared to the previous budget) and 260 million dollars in profits (25% more) and has transported 12 million passengers and 432,000 tons of freight.