■ ETHIOPIA: EAE to expand Bole International Airport as Ethiopian Airlines mulls cancelling its 5* hotel project tender.

The Ethiopian Airport Enterprise (EAE) is to expand the existing passenger terminal at Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport in the coming months and years, with design work already in progress.

The envisaged extension (UltimatePlan)

The new extension will connect the international terminal (Terminal II) with the domestic terminal (Terminal I).  Terminal I, located at the old airport building, is currently under major renovation and all domestic flights are temporarily being handled at Terminal II.

The enterprise has undertaken two expansion projects at the airport. In the first expansion project, it built an apron which can accommodate 24 aircraft while it is presently undertaking its second expansion project - the construction of another apron which will accommodate 14 aircraft.

Meanwhile, the EAE has finalized its deal with German company, ICM Airport Technics, for the construction of a new state-of-the-art cargo terminal at the airline’s hub at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. 

The rendering for the Ethiopian 5* hotel (Addis Fortune)

Set to handle 1.2 million tonnes of cargo per annum, the project will be completed in two phases each with the capacity of handling 600'000 tonnes. The first phase of the construction will cost an estimated EUR110million with finance to come via a vendor financing scheme in which the contractor will provides the finances. ICM has brought in an as-yet-unknown South African Bank with negotiations with the bank said to be underway.

On the hotel front, Tewolde Gebremariam, Ethiopian CEO, has said Ethiopian may cancel its five-star hotel plans, part of its Vision 2025 objectives & goals, set to be located near its new headquarters in Addis Ababa, citing poor design tenders.

“The bid includes design, construction and management. We have two finalists. But we are not happy with the design. We may cancel the bid and retender it,” Tewolde said. 

Source [The Reporter]

Should the hotel project be retendered, it will be the second time Ethiopian has had to rescind its tender following poor submissions. In 2009, Ethiopian issued a tender to indigenous Ethiopian companies for the design and supervision of contract for it's new headquarters at Bole Airport. However, the airline was not satisfied with the submissions and only second to fifth place of the design bid were announced on Monday, April 11, 2010, with no actual winner being declared.

A second round tender was announced in September 2011. In February 2012 Ethiopian Airlines finally made its decision settling instead for a design by Ethiopian architectural firm BET Architects Plc, in collaboration with Soehene Partners Architects, an Austrian company.