Ethiopian Airlines has announced it will begin construction of a new USD 5 billion airport later this year, as the expanding carrier outgrows capacity at its current base in Addis Ababa, the company said.
The airport will be built in Bishoftu, a town 39 km southeast of the capital. The proposed facility will cover an area of 35 square miles and have the capacity to handle 100 million passengers a year. Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, EA´s current base of operations, has a passenger capacity of about 19 million passengers annually.
State-owned Ethiopian Airlines, which competes with large Middle East carriers to connect long-haul passengers, has built a patchwork of African routes from its hub in Addis Ababa to fly customers towards expanding Asian markets.
It has 116 aircraft in its fleet and its net profit rose to USD 260 million in its 2018/19 financial year from USD 207.2 million a year earlier.
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