Nigerian Flight Deck Travel and Business Reportage
By Juliet Ifeanyi
A record number of international passengers are traveling through Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, the major gateway into Africa, this summer.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019 was one of the busiest days for the Airport with 310 flights and 29,528 travelers (21,028 departing and 8,500 arriving passengers, respectively) which marked a record number of daily passengers served at the terminal.
Commenting on the Airport’s preparedness for the peak season, Mr Getaneh Adera, Director of Bole International Airport and Acting CEO of Ethiopian Airports said, “With the partial opening of the new terminal which will more than double the capacity of the airport, we are very excited to serve record number of passengers in this summer.”
As the home base of Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest flag-carrier serving over 120 cities around the world, Addis Ababa has turned into a bustling hub handling hundreds of flights each day.
The Airport has seen a major expansion recently which will boost its capacity to cater to 22 million passengers annually. Upon going fully operational, the expanded terminal will feature state-of-the-art airport facilities, elegant and spacious check-in, arrival and departure halls, various duty-free shops, restaurants, and many other accommodations, taking the entire passengers’ experience to a whole new level. It is to be recalled that last year Addis Ababa surpassed Dubai as the top transit hub for longhaul passengers into Africa.
