ICM Airport Techniques was awarded the turnkey project to construct a cargo warehouse for Ethiopian Airlines. The warehouse to be constructed is intended to be able to hold 1.2 million tons of cargo every year.
The German Company which specializes in airport equipment and Ethiopian Airlines are in the last stages of financial negotiations according to sources.
The new warehouse will increase the airlines capacity for shortage enabling it to give better quality cargo services according to Tewolde Gebremariam Chief Executive officer of Ethiopian Airlines.
The Bole International Airport terminal currently has a warehouse with the capacity to store 350 tons of cargo every year as well as cold storage area of 2000 meter squares.The new warehouse will be equipped to handle both dry goods and perishables requiring cold storage it was said. The capacity of the new terminal is similar to the mega warehouse in Dubai, one of the largest storage areas in the world.
Ethiopian Airlines is currently hauling close to 110 thousand tons of cargo up from just 42 thousand tons. The airline is constructing temporary cold storage in for flowers and vegetables until the new warehouse is completed.
It is expected that the temporary warehousing will be completed at the beginning of the next year with two companies already awarded the construction project and Dutch Celtic Koeilng BV contracted to install all the necessary fixtures explained Tewolde.
ICM previously constructed a cargo terminal for Ethiopian Airlines for 35 million US dollars.
Source: Fortune
