Addis Ababa Bole International Airport Guide

Addis Ababa Bole International Airport sits in the Bole district, approximately 6 km southeast of the city centre. Built in 1962 to accommodate jet aircraft replacing the older Lidetta airfield, it has since grown into Africa's third-busiest airport by passenger traffic, handling around 12.1 million passengers in 2024. The airport operates two runways — 3,800 m and 3,700 m — oriented east–west.

Ethiopian Airlines dominates operations here, running over 5,000 flights per month to more than 120 destinations across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Other carriers include Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Emirates, Qatar Airways, EgyptAir, and Singapore Airlines. The airport serves as a major transit hub, with a significant share of its traffic connecting passengers between Africa and the rest of the world.

A new international terminal opened in 2003 and was further expanded in 2019, adding check-in counters, immigration processing capacity, and a transit hotel. The airport is managed by Ethiopian Airports Enterprise, a subsidiary of the Ethiopian Airlines Group. A replacement hub is planned near Bishoftu, projected to open around 2030.