PREVIEW

A futuristic new airport is set to become Africa’s biggest aviation hub by the end of the decade - but it’s far from the traditional tourist hotspots of Cairo, Casablanca, or Cape Town.

Bishoftu International Airport (BIA) is being built in Ethiopia, where it is intended to serve as a new global aviation hub for the continent.

The airport will be built in multiple stages, with the first phase scheduled to open in 2030. This initial phase will include a 660,000-square-metre terminal and two independent parallel runways, serving up to 60 million passengers annually.

Later phases will expand the airport to four runways, with aircraft parking for 270 planes, increasing capacity to 110 million passengers a year.

Even after its first phase, that number of passengers would dwarf Africa’s current largest airport, Cairo, which caters to around 30 million per year. In its first phase, it will serve around four times more people than Ethiopia’s existing Addis Ababa airport, Africa’s third biggest.

It will also be multiple times larger than the continent’s other large hubs, Johannesburg, Casablanca, and Cape Town.

Ground was broken on the project, which is designed by UK studio Zaha Hadid Architects, about 40 kilometres south of the capital, Addis Ababa, near the city of Bishoftu, on 10 January 2026.

“Bishoftu International Airport will be the largest aviation infrastructure project in Africa's history, more than four times the capacity of Ethiopia's current main airport which will reach its limits on existing traffic in the next two to three years,” Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali said during a groundbreaking ceremony.

Zaha Hadid Architects’ director of aviation, Cristiano Ceccato de Sabata, described the project as transformative.

“Bishoftu International Airport is a visionary project for Ethiopia and Africa as a whole,” he said.

“Airports bring people together and bridge national divides. Zaha Hadid Architects is honoured to be part of its development – connecting every region of the continent as Africa’s global gateway.”

Around 80% of passengers are expected to be transferring between flights without leaving the airport. As a result, the design places a strong emphasis on transit facilities, including an airside hotel with 350 guest rooms, dining and entertainment venues, and outdoor gardens and courtyards.

The terminal will be organised around a single central spine, inspired by the Great Rift Valley, which passes near Bishoftu as it runs from the Middle East through East Africa. The architects say this layout will minimise walking distances and make connections easier for passengers.
Each of the terminal’s piers will feature distinct materials and colour palettes intended to “reflect the diverse regions of Ethiopia”.

The airport’s lower elevation - almost 400 metres below Addis Ababa’s existing Bole International Airport - combined with longer runways, is expected to improve aircraft performance. This will allow Ethiopian Airlines to operate long-haul, non-stop flights more efficiently, using less fuel while carrying heavier passenger and cargo loads.

According to Zaha Hadid Architects, the terminal building will use natural ventilation, solar shading and semi-enclosed spaces suited to the temperate highland climate of Ethiopia’s Oromia region.

Photovoltaic arrays will generate on-site energy, while stormwater from runways, taxiways and buildings will be channelled into newly created wetlands and bioswales for storage, reuse and biodiversity enhancement.

The airport will be constructed using modular fabrication and assembly, with concrete, aggregates, and steel produced or recycled locally in Bishoftu. Landscaping will include drought-resistant native plants and relocated trees, alongside public parks on the landside and gardens for passengers airside.

Bishoftu International Airport will also be connected to central Addis Ababa and the existing Bole Airport by a high-speed rail link, forming the backbone of a new regional transport network.

Specifically located to allow 24-hour operations without a curfew, the airport will anchor a wider “Airport City” development of mixed-use buildings. The project is expected to create new jobs and support a local population of around 80,000 people.