Addis Ababa - Ethiopia planned to build a mega-airport capable of handling up to 120 million passengers a year, the country’s airports company said.
The location of the airport, to be built within a radius of 100km from Addis Ababa, still needs to be established, said Wondim Teklu, a spokesman for Ethiopian Airports Enterprise.
“The new airport will be a hub for the whole of Africa,” he said.
If the project goes ahead, the east African country’s state-owned Ethiopian Airlines would have one of the largest airports in the world.
The current Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is overloaded, receiving more than 8 million passengers a year.
Teklu said once the enterprise had identified a site, it would seek appropriate loans.
Aviation experts said the number of 120 million potential travellers appeared very high.
By comparison, nearly 60 million passengers a year pass through Frankfurt’s airport.
Ethiopian Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance group, which is dominated by Lufthansa Airlines.
It operates 76 aircraft.
The economy of Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, is growing rapidly.
ANA-DPA