The Addis Ababa and the Surrounding Oromia Integrated Development Plan Project Office has drafted a plan for a new airport site on the  western outskirts of Addis Ababa in the Oromia Special zone.

Fetuma Lemessa, Deputy Manager of the Addis Ababa and the Surrounding Oromia Integrated Development Plan Project Office, told Capital that based on the plan, the town of Teji, about 30km west of Addis Ababa on the road to Jimma is the proposed site for the location of the new airport.

The proposed new airport site is part of a plan is to revise the ten-year old master plan of Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian Airport Enterprise had been conducting a study on the establishment of a new international airport for some time. When expansion project at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport was designed in the early 90s, it was assumed that the airport would adequately accommodate air traffic up to 2017, however, the airport reached its maximum capacity in 2010.

According to the information obtained from the Public Relations Department of Ethiopian Airlines, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport currently accommodates an average of 800 departures per week.

Source: Capital