Airports, typically, take many years from concept to completion, except within China and Türkiye.
But the decision on the location alone of the new airport to serve Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, took seven years.
It isn’t that the existing airport, Bole, is ramshackle. It could continue to be patched up and moderately expanded, perhaps to last for another 10 years.
But courtesy of the success of Ethiopian Airlines, which is widely regarded as the premier airline on the African continent, ambitions are big. And the projected Abusera Airport, which should be open in its first phase in 2029, envisages total annual throughput eventually amounting to 110mppa, making it one of the biggest airports in the world, by today’s standards.
It is a project, though, that might not have been feasible without the attachment of an airport city – one that will cost more than the airport.
The African Development Bank will probably provide loans, possibly syndicated ones, but the opportunity may still remain for the private sector investment fraternity to commit finally to a major African project such as this; one that is built on solid commercial acumen, with the state airline a major player.
