Dar, Zaha Hadid to Design Ethiopia’s New Airport

Located in Abusera, the airport is set to become Africa’s largest one

Ethiopian Airlines Group has announced plans to build Africa’s largest airport in Abusera – a critical element of Ethiopian’s 15-year strategic plan to become one of the most competitive aviation groups in the world.

The airport’s location allows for progressive growth, empowering the airline to meet the International Air Transport Association’s forecasts of more than 200% growth over the next decade – growing beyond Bole International Airport, which offers no possibilities for significant expansion. Abusera’s lower altitude will elevate aircraft take-off performance, while an express rail link to Addis Ababa facilitates connectivity. 

With its exceptional capacity and world-class facilities, this new airport promises to elevate African aviation.

Mesfin Tasew, CEO, Ethiopian 

In its first phase scheduled for 2029, the airport will have a capacity of 60 million passengers annually – almost three times Africa’s current busiest airport – creating thousands of jobs to serve Ethiopian’s expanding customer base and fleet. Ultimately, the airport will serve 110 million passengers annually – four times the capacity of Bole International Airport.

Ethiopian’s CEO Mesfin Tasew stated, “With its exceptional capacity and world-class facilities, this new airport promises to elevate African aviation.” To deliver this transformational new project, Ethiopian Airlines awarded a consultancy contract to a consortium led by Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners), with Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), Pascall+Watson Architects, Landrum&Brown, and TY Lin.

Dar, TY Lin, and Landrum&Brown belong to Sidara, a global collaborative that ranks first in aviation (Engineering News Record 2023). ZHA brings award-winning design capabilities and a global track-record of acclaimed airport projects, while Pascall+Watson Architects has successfully completed over 2,000 aviation projects across 70 airports.

Collectively, these companies will cover technical advisory, engineering, project management, and construction supervision services for 600,000 m2 of passenger facilities, 126,000 m2 of airline support facilities, two Code 4E parallel runways along with associated airfield infrastructure, and other major airport facilities and infrastructure.