Government will decide on site location soon
The new mega international hub that the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise (EAE) is planning to build out of Addis Ababa is going to cost 40-50 billion birr.
At a media visit organized by EAE yesterday Commander Tsegaye Kaleab, deputy head of the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport expansion project and the planned mega hub, told journalists that the new mega hub project is estimated to cost 40-50 billion birr and is going to be a 10-year project. According to Tsegaye, the French consulting firm, ADPI, has finalized the study on the site location.
The previous locations proposed by EAE have been annulled by ADPI and new locations have been identified by the consulting firm. Previously, three locations near Modjo, Dukem and Teji towns were proposed for the new airport construction site. However, ADPI dropped these locations and selected eight new sites. “Of these eight locations five will be presented to the government for final decision,” Tsegaye said. ADPI used satellite images to select the new locations.
Tsegaye declined to name the five proposed locations. However, he said that a decision will be made and revealed to the public within two months. EAE will present the proposed locations to the Minister of Transport, Workneh Gebeyehu, next week. Workneh will soon present the proposal to the Council of Ministers for endorsement. “Once it is endorsed by the Council of Ministers it will be made public,” he said.
ADPI will conduct economic feasibility, technical study and airport masterplan.
The planned international airport will be constructed on a 144 sq.km plot of land, which is expected to be on a low land area some 70 km south east of Addis Ababa. The new airport will have four runways and can accommodate up to 100 million passengers per year. The Addis Ababa Bole International Airport has only one run way and accommodates seven million passengers per year.
An exclusive highway that links Addis Ababa to the mega hub will be built. “It is not only an airport that we are going to build. We will have an entirely new airport city,” Tsegaye said.
The new airport is believed to serve the country for 100 years and serve as a main gateway to Africa. “It is going to be a major hub in Africa,” Tsegaye said. The Addis Ababa Bole International Airport was built in 1962 when Ethiopian Airlines joined the jet age by brining the Boeing B720.
Tsegaye said that the new airport will be the second biggest infrastructure development project in Ethiopia, next to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, that is under construction at a cost of 80 billion birr.
According to Tsegaye, since the planned airport will be profitable securing financing would not be a problem. “A number of international financial institutions have already shown interest to extend loan to the project. The project would be awarded to a company that can secure loan to the project. It is going to be a vendor financing scheme,” Tsegaye told The Reporter.
The proposed locations are vast cultivated land. Large farms will be affected and more than 10,000 people could be relocated. “The project is a pride to all Ethiopians. It will take Ethiopia one step ahead,” he said.
The EAE is also expanding the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport at a cost of 250 million dollars. The Chinese company, China Construction and Communication Company (CCCC), is undertaking the major expansion project since January 2015.
The Addis Ababa Airport currently accommodates seven million passengers per year. The existing passenger terminal lies on 48,000 sq.m plot of land. The new terminal will span on 72,000 sq.m of land, adjacent to the existing terminal. When completed after three years, the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport will handle 20 million passengers.
The expansion project includes new terminal, VIP terminal and CIP (commercial important person) terminal, where prominent business people use the facility and pay for the service. The expansion also includes a three storey parking lot. Officials of EAE say the expansion project is well underway.
ADPI is the consultant of the project while the design was conducted by a renowned Singapore Airport Architecture firm, CPG.
Tefera Mekonnen, airport facilities director at EAE, told local reporters that currently, the enterprise is undertaking three projects at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. Upgrading of the airport’s closed circuit television (CCTV), baggage handling system and parking automation are the three projects being implemented at the moment.
An Israeli company, Amiran Communication, has won the tender to supply, install and commissioning of latest CCTV cameras at a cost of one million dollars. The cameras will be installed at the passenger terminals, aprons, business lounges, parking lot, Ethiopian Airlines cargo terminal and aviation academy.
A UK company, Diafku Logan, is upgrading the BHS at a cost of 2.8 million pounds. The BHS handling capacity will increase from the existing 1500 bags per hour to 3300. A state of the art conveyers that sort out luggages based on their destinations and new explosive detecting system will be installed.
EAE has awarded the parking automation project to a US-based company, U-Street Parking. According to Tefera, U-Street Parking will supply, install and operate the automated car parking system. The parking machines will cost three million birr. U-Street Parking will manage the parking lot for three years. According to Tefera, U-Street will collect the revenue and share the profit with the enterprise. “The enterprise will take 70 percent of the profit while the company reaps the remaining 30 percent,” Tefera said. U-Street is a company owned by Ethiopian born American business people.
“Our parking system is backward and prone to theft and crime. It is below acceptable standard and our customers often file complaints on the service,” Tefera said.
In addition, 20 new walk through machines, X-rays and one explosive detecting system have been bought at a cost of 2.6 million euros. These machines will be installed at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.