Africa’s largest cargo operator, Ethiopian Airlines, has inaugurated the new Cargo Terminal 2 at its home hub Addis Ababa. During the opening ceremony, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn said: “Today, the national flag carrier has become the largest aviation group and the fastest growing airline in Africa, unrivalled in efficiency with shining operational excellence. Above all, Ethiopian Airlines has played an important and irreplaceable role in the development of the economy, export and import activities, and foreign exchange earnings.” Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Executive Tewolde GebreMariam acknowledged the partners who contributed to the completion of the project and said: “The new Cargo Terminal 2, combined with our existing Terminal 1, will give us a total tonnage capacity of around 1 million per annum which is the largest in the continent of Africa. This milestone will make Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services one of the world’s largest cargo terminals, comparable with cargo terminals in AmsterdamSchiphol, Singapore-Changi, or Hong Kong.” Covering a total area of 150,000 m², the new facility includes a dry cargo terminal warehouse, a perishable cargo terminal with cool chain storage, fully automated with elevating transport vehicle (ETV) technology, and an apron area for five additional large freighter aircraft. The new terminal is also fitted with different climate chambers for storage and handling of temperature-sensitive fresh agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, and life science products. #1079.12
* The German KfW IPEX-Bank has financed the export of the technical interior equipment of the new air cargo terminal at Addis Ababa International Airport with a loan amounting to EUR 32.8 million. Borrower and investor is Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest airline and member of the Star Alliance. General planning as well most important technical components of the building, cooling and storage facilities come from the exporter Unitechnik Systems from Germany. KfW IPEX-Bank and the French Agency for Development (Agence Française de Développement – AFD) were acting as both co-arrangers and lenders of the project financing. KfW IPEX-Bank financing will also benefit from a twelve-year term and export credit insurance from the Federal Republic of Germany (‘Hermes cover’). AFD is providing in parallel a loan amounting to a further EUR 50 million to finance the building (incl. airside and landside apron work) by local construction firm Varnero. Ethiopian Airlines’ new cargo terminal is among the largest projects in the history of Unitechnik Systems, based in Wiehl, Germany. Already in 2006, the company played an important role in setting up the existing air cargo terminal at Addis Ababa Airport. Most recently, Unitechnik supplied an air cargo terminal in Durban/South Africa with cooling equipment. The technology for this current project is adapted to the needs of the client and combines relatively low complexity with a high grade of usability. It is robust, easy to handle, to service and to control. The air cargo terminal was erected in two phases reaching in its final stage of expansion an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes of air cargo. That will make it the largest air cargo terminal in Africa and one of the largest in the world. It is an integral part of Ethiopian Cargo Vision 2025 aiming at supporting fast growing volumes of perishable exports of fruits, flowers and meat, mainly to destinations in Europe and the Middle East. Ethiopian Cargo is the largest cargo operator in Africa with 24 freighter destinations using eight dedicated cargo aircraft, mainly wide-bodies such as the B.777-200 LR freighter. By 2025, Ethiopian Cargo is planning to serve 37 international destinations with a fleet of 18 dedicated freighters. #1079.13
