7 April 2014
Five international consulting firms are bidding for a major tranche of work in Ethiopia – to supervise the $250m expansion of the existing Bole International Airport, and to plan a new air "mega hub" outside the capital, Addis Ababa.
The winning consultant will supervise a Chinese construction company already appointed.
Thirty-eight companies bought the bidding document but only five submitted bids to the procuring agency, Ethiopian Airports Enterprise, according to Ethiopian newspaper The Reporter.
The bidders were not named. Chief executive officer of the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise, Tewodros Dawit, said the bids would be evaluated within three weeks.
Singapore’s CPG Airport Architects is designing the expansion. Plans will be unveiled in two weeks, the paper said.
The expansion project includes a new passenger terminal and a new VIP passengers’ terminal, with retail and office space.
Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, Ethiopia (Raimund Stehmann/Wikimedia Commons)
A $250m loan has been secured from the government of China for the expansion, with the loan agreement endorsed by the Ethiopian Parliament last week.
Chinese construction firm, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), will be the contractor for the expansion project, which is expected to take three years.
Tewodros told The Reporter that CCCC will offer a quote for the work, and that there will be negotiations on the price.
The wining consulting firm will also undertake a study on a new international airport – the mega hub – planned for outside the capital.
Three possible sites have been identified, the towns of Modjo, Teji and Dukem.
The winning consultant would undertake feasibility, technical, and financial studies and produce a masterplan, which would involve integrating Bole International Airport with the new mega-hub.
