Addis Ababa, September 24, 2026 (FMC) — Ethiopia’s new US$12.5 billion international airport project is being advanced as a major investment in connectivity, with the potential to strengthen the country’s role as a gateway for continental trade and support the deeper economic integration envisioned under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), President Taye Atske-Selassie said.
Addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Taye said Ethiopia has worked to promote cooperation and regional integration through infrastructure development, trade and people-to-people relations across Africa.
“Moreover, adding to Ethiopia’s growing portfolio, megaprojects, executions, the government is investing in an international airport worth 12.5 billion US dollars, which will handle 110 million passengers and at about 4 million tons of cargo annually,” he said.
“This project will play a catalytic role in the African continental free trade area,” President Taye added, highlighting the airport’s significance beyond aviation as part of Ethiopia’s wider connectivity and economic-integration agenda.
He linked the investment to Ethiopia’s efforts to sustain and scale achievements in renewable energy, connectivity, food security, manufacturing and urban development, while calling for “genuine and sustained regional and international cooperation” to advance these gains.
The project referred to by the President is the Bishoftu International Airport (BIA), being developed by Ethiopian Airlines Group about 40 kilometers from Addis Ababa. The project is being implemented in phases, with the first phase valued at approximately US$12.5 billion and designed to accommodate up to 60 million passengers annually. Its long-term master plan provides for an ultimate capacity of 110 million passengers annually.
The scale of the planned facility corresponds with Ethiopia’s established position as a major aviation gateway linking Africa with international destinations. The new airport is intended to expand that capacity and provide a larger platform for passenger and cargo movement as demand for regional and global connectivity grows.
Its projected role also converges with continental initiatives under the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which identifies connectivity, infrastructure and economic integration as key drivers of Africa’s transformation. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) are among Agenda 2063’s flagship projects.
The AfCFTA seeks to accelerate intra-African trade and create a single market for goods and services, while SAATM is designed to strengthen intra-African air connectivity and establish a unified air transport market as an impetus to continental economic integration and growth.
Against this continental framework, President Taye’s description of the airport as a catalyst for AfCFTA places physical connectivity at the center of the relationship between infrastructure and African trade integration. A major passenger and cargo hub can provide expanded channels for the movement of people and goods, complementing the market integration objectives of AfCFTA and the air-connectivity ambitions of SAATM.
The airport thus forms part of Ethiopia’s broader infrastructure and connectivity push, with its projected scale intended to support not only growing aviation demand but also the movement of trade, investment and people. For Ethiopia, the project is being developed alongside wider efforts to build productive capacity and strengthen its links with African and global markets.
President Taye said the country’s progress across these areas requires sustained cooperation, framing the airport investment within a wider vision of infrastructure-led connectivity and regional economic integration rather than as an aviation project in isolation.