By Ghana News
Copyright ghanamma
The US says it will support the construction of a new international airport in Ethiopia, marking President Donald Trump’s first major business initiative in the country.
Trump’s special envoy said Washington will provide significant financial backing for the new airport at Bishoftu, about 40 km south of Addis Ababa. The facility is intended to ease pressure on the overused Bole International Airport and bolster Ethiopian Airlines’ position as Africa’s largest carrier.
The $10 billion airport will cover 34 square km and handle international passenger and cargo traffic, while Bole will continue to serve domestic operations.
US Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos announced the plan on his X account on September 29, following a state visit to Ethiopia.
“I’m just coming from Ethiopia, and I came back straight to Unga (United Nations General Assembly) from Ethiopia, where we talked about our support for the new airport project, and it is going to be probably the biggest airport and one of the biggest in the world. It’s a $10 billion project, probably more,” Boulos said.
“The DFC and other institutions are supporting. We are also working closely with many projects relating to Boeing. Boeing has a very, very strong partnership, as we know, with Ethiopian Airlines, with Royal Air Maroc, with many other airlines across the continent including Gabon and Angola and the DRC – and many others, too numerous to list,” he added, referring to the US International Development Finance Corporation.
The greenfield Bishoftu International Airport will initially accommodate 60 million passengers, expanding to 110 million, and transport 3.73 million tonnes of cargo annually, according to a prospectus.
Groundworks are expected to begin late 2025, with Phase I scheduled for completion by November 2029.
The project will also feature an “airport city” with shopping malls, hotels, recreation areas, and direct rail and expressway links to Addis Ababa.
In August, the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed an agreement to act as lead arranger and global coordinator to mobilise nearly $8 billion of the project’s cost, with plans to finance $500 million, subject to board approval.
Ethiopian Airlines and the AfDB had signed a letter of intent to fund the airport project in Abusera in March.
The airport, designed by Dubai-based Sidara, will include four runways, capacity for 100 million passengers a year, and parking for 270 aircraft. It is seen as a key driver of regional growth and part of Ethiopian Airlines’ 2035 strategy focused on network expansion, infrastructure, and human capital development.
AfDB views regional transport as central to its integration agenda, alongside food security, energy security, and clean energy transition.
Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, continues to expand aggressively. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, it reported record revenues of $7.02 billion, up 14 percent year-on-year, and carried 17.1 million passengers, with 13.4 million on international routes and 3.7 million domestically.
