Bole International Airport is the busiest passengers’ transit station in Africa. The terminal serves thousands of travelers and tourists every day. For this reason, it has long been unable to meet properly the increasing demands of its customers. To change such situation, The Ethiopian airlines had been constructing a new terminal to meet the needs of passengers. China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) had signed a contract to construction Bole International Airport Terminal Expansion Project in 2012. In 2015 the corner stone was laid and it has started to serve its customers in 2019.
In the exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald, Bole International Airport Terminal Expansion Project, General Manager, Li Xiudong said, the new terminal is constructed in an international standard.
“We had two contracts in the expansion project. Project One is finished with a total cost of 225 million USD which is obtained through concessional loan from Chinese government. The other contract- Project Two- is an expansion project and renovation of the old terminal. We have started it with the cost of 138 million USD dollars.”
According to him, Project One is finalized within one and half year and it is now serving passengers.
The total area covered by Project One is 118 thousand square meters which consist of new expansion area of 70,000 square meters and renovation area of 48,000. The expansion terminal has three floors.
Li said, Terminal Two or Contract two will be finalized within the coming one year. Contract One is funded by Chinese government and it is a concessional type of loan. And it is funded by Export-Import Bank of China.According to him, 85 percent of the loan for Project Two is obtained from Export-Import Bank of China and the rest 15 percent will be covered by the Ethiopian government.
Since 2004, CCCC has been constructing infrastructures in Ethiopia mainly in the capital city. The ring-road, railway, expressway and industrial parks are some of them, he noted.
He said, the total areas covered by project two is 17,000 square meters andwhen the project finalized, its passenger accommodation capacity will increase into 2.4 million per year.
Ethiopian Airport Enterprise CEO Eskinder Alemu, on his part said, the Airport terminal expansion means a lot to Ethiopian Airlines and to Ethiopia as a whole and it will make Ethiopian Airline a hub for African aviation.
He said the expansion project will increase the accommodation capacity of the terminal and it will increase tourist flow, ease transportation for passengers and goods. After the completion of Project Two, the yearly capacity of the terminal will increase from the current 7 million to 22 million passengers. This increases the Ethiopian airlines current capacity towards making Addis Ababa as the aviation hub of the African continent, according to Eskinder.
Counselor of Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, Economic and Commercial Minister Liu Yu, told The Ethiopian Herald that the expansion and construction projects are a good manifestations how Ethiopian and Chinese relationship is getting more and more strong. The bilateral cooperation of the two countries takes palce in various forms. “The relationship of the two countries is pragmatic and fruitful. The bilateral cooperation of the two countries is in the form of soft loan, technical cooperation, education and human resources development.”
China is one of the biggest investing partners of Ethiopia in Africa. The new terminal expansion project contributes economic development of capital and the whole Ethiopia, she added.
Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed inaugurated a terminal expansion and 5-star Skylight Hotel in January 2019 which was constructed by CCCC.
The Ethiopian Herald November22, 2019
BY MISGANAW ASNAKE
