Ethiopian Airlines upgrades Addis Ababa infrastructure

Ethiopian Airlines is upgrading the infrastructure at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport for maintenance, cargo and flight simulators as the Star Alliance member continues to grow.

Nearing completion is a wide-body maintenance hangar and a new cargo terminal, Ethiopian said in a statement.

The maintenance hangar, which is 97% complete, has two bays for paint and maintenance. It can accommodate two Boeing 747-8s at a time, or more of other aircraft types.

A new cargo terminal, which is 82% complete, is expected to open around April 2017. The new terminal will have an annual storage of 1.2 million tons and a capacity to handle eight 747-8 freighters at a time. Construction of the first phase will cost approximately $150 million.

Upon completion, Ethiopian said its uplifting capability “will be equivalent to the cargo terminals at Amsterdam Schiphol, Singapore Changi or Hong Kong.”

Ethiopian has also constructed a flight simulator building and installed five of the latest full flight simulators, which includes Boeing 787, 777, 757, 767, 737NG and the Bombardier Q400. It plans to add simulators for the Airbus A350 XWB and Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

(Kurt Hofmann - ATWOnline News)