Business Insider Africa
Olamikekan Okebiorun
23 July 2026
A slice of Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley, with volcanic rocks, native trees, streams and grass, will run through Africa’s planned largest airport, alongside a dedicated high-speed rail station and a futuristic garden terminal that evokes the spacecraft in Morten Tyldum’s Passengers.
Ethiopia is staking $12.5 billion on an airport that could redraw Africa’s aviation map and turn Addis Ababa into a global crossroads.
At its heart will rise the Central Beacon, a tower-like structure with a 60-metre interior atrium that its designers say will be the tallest in any airport worldwide.
The landmark will anchor Bishoftu International Airport, a vast new Ethiopian Airlines gateway led by DAR and designed by Zaha Hadid Architects to handle tens of millions of travellers each year...
