Ethiopia PM Abiy commissions expanded Bole airport terminal, 5-star hotel

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday commissioned the newly expanded Addis Ababa Bole International Airport terminal, which makes it the biggest airport aviation hub in Africa.

Abiy also launched the Skylight hotel,a subsidiary of Ethiopian Airlines.

“Ethiopian Airlines is the pride of Ethiopia as it embodies the philosophy of Medemer”, Abiy was quoted as saying by the official Fana Broadcasting Agency.

The China-funded $345m expansion, which began in 2015, is projected to raise the annual passenger capacity to 22 million. Addis Ababa last year overtook Dubai as the leading gateway to Africa, according to travel intelligence agency ForwardKeys.

The country also announced that it would start granting visas on arrival to people from Africa.

The inauguration ceremony was also attended by the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.

According to Ethiopian Airlines, the expanded terminal has been fitted with modern amenities including automated bag drop solutions, e-gates, self-check-in kiosks, baggage handling and the latest airport security technologies.

#Africa’s biggest airport is now Bole International. Inaugurated (expansion) today in #Ethiopia by PM Abyi, Bole handles 22 million passengers. Beautiful airport. Congratulations flyethiopian. News: The PM & ET’s CEO announced a new 100-million passenger mega airport in Bishoftu pic.twitter.com/n315a3Mzrz

— Zemedeneh Negatu (Zemedeneh) January 27, 2019

#Ethiopia: PM Dr Abiy inaugurates flyethiopian 5-star Skylight Hotel https://t.co/n0wp2X4tCk pic.twitter.com/jpPjXeYlld

— FANA BROADCASTING C (fanatelevision) January 27, 2019

As part of his visit to Ethiopian Airlines, PM Abiy Ahmed visited the aviation academy of the airline; the maintenance and aerospace manufacturing site, cargo and logistics center. He also visited the simulation training site where operators demonstrated the A350-900 simulator. pic.twitter.com/e0dqjLEUST

— Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) January 27, 2019

ጠ/ሚር ዐቢይ አሕመድ በ363 ሚሊዮን ዶላር የተሰራውን የቦሌ አለም አቀፍ አየር ማረፊያ ማስፋፊያ ሥራ ዛሬ በይፋ መረቁ:: የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ የመደመርን ፍልስፍና የያዘ የኢትዮጵያ ኩራት ነው ብለውም ገልፅዋል:: pic.twitter.com/RR16crwIY8

— Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) January 27, 2019