The state-owned airline has won the contract to design the airport, which will include four runways in a town located about 45 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wrote on the social media platform X: "Bishoftu International Airport will be the largest aviation infrastructure project in African history." Ethiopian Airlines officially launched the project on Saturday, costing 12.5 billion dollars to build what officials say will be Africa's largest airport upon its completion in 2030 in the Ethiopian town of Bishoftu. The airport will cover an area large enough to park 270 aircraft and have a capacity of 110 million passengers annually. The prime minister added that this is four times the capacity of Ethiopia's current main airport, which will reach its limit in handling current air traffic within two to three years. Abraham Tsefaye, Director of Infrastructure Development and Planning at Ethiopian Airlines, told reporters that the airline will finance 30% of the project, while lenders will finance the rest. He said on-site that the company has already allocated 610 million dollars for engineering earthworks, which are scheduled to be completed within a year, after which the main contractors will begin work in August 2026. The initial estimated cost of the project was 10 billion dollars.