Expansion work at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport will be completed at the end of this year, when its passenger handling capacity will be raised from five million to 22 million a year, according to the national flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines.
The civil engineering work of the new airport terminal, which has been carried out for the past three year at a total cost of 350 million US dollars, is already completed, says Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Tewolde Gebremariam.
He told ENA that the new terminal, covering an area of 74,000 square meters, would be equipped with modern technology which would enable it to provide modern services and ensure smooth passenger traffic flows.
The present termina, which was designed to serve five million passengers in a year, has been forced to handle nine million, it is learned. Tewolde disclosed that completion of the new terminal will boost the figure to about 22 million passengers ia year.
Upon completion of the project, Bole International Airport will be the leading airport in Africa in terms of passenger handllng capacity. Currently, Johannesburg’s OR Tambo Airport leads on the continent with a capacity of 20 million.
According to Tewolde, other aiports in Ethiopia at DembiDollo, BaleGoba, Shire, and Jinka, are under construction and will be completed within the coming six months.
SOURCE: Bernama