Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (IATA: ADD, ICAO: HAAB) is an international airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is located in the Bole district, approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of the city centre and 65 km (40 mi) north of Bishoftu.
The airport was formerly known as Haile Selassie I International Airport. It serves as the main hub for Ethiopian Airlines, the national airline that connects Ethiopia to destinations across the African continent, as well as to Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. The airport is also the base of the Ethiopian Aviation Academy.
Inside Africa’s Best Airport 🇪🇹 Bole International Airport Addis Ababa
History and Development
In 1960, Ethiopian Airlines recognized that the runway at Lideta was insufficient for its new Boeing 720 jet aircraft. By December 1962, a new runway and control tower were operational.
The expanded old runway and the new runway are capable of handling the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 aircraft. The new parallel runway is connected by five entrances and exits to the old runway, which serves as a taxiway.
In 2006, a new cargo terminal and maintenance hangar were opened, albeit five months behind schedule due to expanded specifications aimed at significantly improving Ethiopian Airlines' handling capacity and needs. The facility can accommodate three to four aircraft simultaneously.
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In 2010, the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise announced an expansion project worth $27.9 million. The project included increasing the aircraft parking capacity from 19 to 44 to accommodate heavier aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Boeing 777. The expansion work was undertaken in two phases on an 80-hectare (200-acre) site.
The first phase of the expansion work had enabled the airport to accommodate 15 additional aircraft, reducing traffic congestion at the airport. The second phase of the expansion work will enable the airport to service 10 additional aircraft.
In 2012, expansion of the new passenger terminal was announced. The outlay of this expansion was projected at $250 million. At the same time, a new ramp was completed and can now park 24 aircraft. Another ramp is being built for 14 more aircraft. At the same time, the first phase of expanding the taxiways and adding more aircraft parking was completed. Eventually, this will lead to the expansion of the terminal.
According to the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, the east wing of the newly expanded airport was expected to be operational by the end of June 2018. The whole expansion project was completed by the end of 2018, enabling the airport to accommodate up to 22 million passengers per year. As of 23 January 2020 the extension is still not fully completed.
The former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn had purportedly given permission to build a new international airport in the town of Mojo, 65 kilometres (40 mi) south of the capital's current airport. The senior official at the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise said that the officials of the enterprise and the Ministry of Transport briefed the Prime Minister about the planned grand airport project.
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Terminals
The airport has two terminals with a total of around 69 gates. Terminal 1 has 10 gates and Terminal 2 has around 50 gates.
Airlines and Destinations
Addis Ababa Bole International Airport serves a wide array of destinations through Ethiopian Airlines and other carriers. Here's a glimpse of some destinations:
- Ethiopian Airlines: Abidjan, Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Accra, Amman-Queen Alia, Antananarivo, Arba Minch, Asosa, Athens, Atlanta, Awasa, Axum, Bahir Dar, Bahrain, Bamako, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Bangui, Beijing-Capital, Beira, Beirut, Bengaluru, Blantyre, Bosaso, Brazzaville, Brussels, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Bujumbura, Bulawayo, Cairo, Cape Town, Chengdu-Tianfu, Chennai, Chicago-O'Hare, Conakry, Cotonou, Copenhagen, Dakar-Diass, Dammam, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Dembidolo, Dessie, Dhaka, Dire Dawa, Djibouti, Doha, Douala, Dubai-International, Entebbe, Enugu, Frankfurt, Freetown, Gaborone, Gambella, Garowe, Geneva, Goba, Gode, Goma, Gondar, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Harare, Hargeisa, Hong Kong, Humera, Hyderabad, Istanbul, Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Jeddah, Jijiga, Jimma, Johannesburg-O.R.
Ethiopian Cargo also operates from the airport, serving destinations such as Accra, Ahmedabad, Antananarivo, Beirut, Bengaluru, Bogotá, Brazzaville, Brussels, Bujumbura, Casablanca, Cairo, Chennai, Chongqing, Copenhagen, Delhi, Dhaka, Djibouti, Dubai-International, Enugu, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Jeddah, Johannesburg-O. R.
| Airline | Destination |
|---|---|
| Ethiopian Airlines | Abuja |
| Emirates SkyCargo | Dubai |
| Kenya Airways | Nairobi |
| Rwandair | Kigali |
Incidents and Accidents
Unfortunately, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport has been the site of several aviation incidents:
- On 18 April 1972, an East African Airways Super VC-10 crashed during take-off, resulting in the death of 35 passengers and eight crew members.
- On 18 March 1980, a Douglas C-47B of Ethiopian Airlines crashed while on a single-engined approach to the airport.
- On 10 March 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 of Ethiopian Airlines operating as Flight 302 to Nairobi crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members. This crash was similar to the Lion Air Flight 610 crash five months earlier, involving new 737 MAX aircraft crashing shortly after takeoff.
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