Ethiopian executes a turnkey contract agreement for the construction of its second cargo terminal.
Ethiopian Airlines announced the completion of a Turnkey contract Agreement for construction of its cargo terminal 2 and apron, with Unitechnik Systems of Germany and Varnero Construction. The total cost of the Cargo Terminal project is 107 million euro.
The construction of Cargo Terminal 2 is expected to be completed within the next two years will have the capacity to accommodate, 600,000 tonnes of cargo per annum, with cargo apron parking capacity for five B747-800 aircraft at a time. It will also have cold storage capacity to accommodate about 300,000 tonnes of temperature controlled perishable cargo per annum. Completion of Cargo Terminal 2 will be immediately followed with the construction of Cargo Terminal 3 which will also have an annual capacity to accommodate 600,000 tonnes. The entire construction of the two terminals planned to be constructed in two phases will have a capacity to accommodate 1.2 million tonnes of cargo per annum with capacity of eight B747-800 aircraft that places the cargo terminal to be one of the largest in the world.
Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO, Ethiopian Airlines Group said, “In line with our vision 2025, this massive investment in construction of the two cargo terminals shows our unwavering commitment to support the Ethiopian fast growing export of agricultural products and high value imports to the continent, which are critically important for Economic development of many African countries. Including the existing cargo terminal 1, the combined annual capacity of the three terminals will be around 1.5 million tons of cargo which will make Ethiopian one of the largest air cargo operators in the world.”
Ethiopian Cargo is the largest Cargo service provider in the continent. Currently, Ethiopian cargo has dedicated services to 26 cargo destinations in Africa, the Gulf, Middle East, Asia and Europe by using six dedicated cargo freighters. Ethiopian has recently inaugurated a second new state-of-the art perishable cargo Cold Storage Facility.
Ethiopian Cargo has presently transformed into an independent profit center of the Ethiopian Airlines Group. By 2025, Ethiopian Cargo plans to uplift 820,000 tons of cargo using 15 dedicated freighters.