A consortium led by Dar Al Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners) has been awarded the design consultancy contract by national carrier Ethiopian Airlines for its new hub airport coming up at Abusera in the East African nation of Ethiopia. On completion, it will become the largest airport in Africa.

 

Dar Al Handasah said its consortium members include UK-based groups Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) and Pascall+Watson Architects as well as US aviation consulting firm Landrum&Brown and San Francisco-based global engineering firm TY Lin.

 

The construction of the airport will be carried out in two phases, with the first phase designed to handle 60 million passengers annually on completion in 2029.

 

This 60-million passenger number is almost three times that of Africa’s current busiest airport – creating thousands of jobs to serve Ethiopian’s expanding customer base and fleet.

 

Following the completion of all the phases, the airport will be able to serve 110 million passengers annually - four times the capacity of Bole International Airport, it added.

 

Abusera is 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, said the national carrier. 

 

Ethiopian’s CEO Mesfin Tasew said: "With its exceptional capacity and world-class facilities, this new airport promises to elevate African aviation."

 

Abusera’s lower altitude will elevate aircraft take-off performance, while an express rail link to Addis Ababa facilitates connectivity, he stated.  

 

Tasew pointed out that to deliver this transformational new project, it had signed up the Dar Al Handasah consortium.

 

"Dar, TY Lin, and Landrum&Brown belong to Sidara, a global collaborative that ranks 1st in aviation (as per Engineering News Record 2023) while ZHA brings award-winning design capabilities and a global track-record of acclaimed airport projects," he noted.

 

Pascall+Watson Architects has successfully completed over 2,000 aviation projects across 70 airports, he added.

 

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