Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is an international airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is in the Bole district, southeast of the city centre and north of Bishoftu. The airport was formerly known as Haile Selassie I International Airport. It is the main hub of Ethiopian Airlines, the national airline that serves destinations in Ethiopia and throughout the African continent, as well as nonstop service to Asia, Europe, North America and South America. The airport is also the base of the Ethiopian Aviation Academy. As of June 2018, nearly 450 flights per day were departing from and arriving at the airport. History In 1960, Ethiopian Airlines realized the runway at Lidetta was too short for its new jet aircraft, the Boeing 720. Thus a new airport was built at Bole. By December 1962 the new runway and control tower were operational. In 1997, an expansion plan was announced for the airport. This expansion was done in three phases: Phase One: Adding a parallel runway and expanding the old runway. Phase Two: Construction of a brand new terminal with a large parking area, a shopping complex and restaurants. Phase Three: Construction of the 38 m control tower (double the height of the previous one) and installation of new electrical and fire-fighting equipment. The expanded old runway and the new runway are capable of handling the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 aircraft. The new parallel runway is connected by five entrances and exits to the old runway, which serves as a taxiway. The terminal houses a high tech security and baggage handling system built on more than 43,000 square meters of land. The terminal also has banks and duty-free shops. The new control tower was built in between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, replacing the old control tower. In 2003, the new international passenger terminal was opened, making it one of Africa's largest airport passenger terminals. The new terminal is capable of handling about 3,000 passengers an hour. This project was worth a total of 1.05 billion birr ($130 million). At the time, the airport was one of a number of airport terminal constructions that have been underway in Ethiopia. In 2006, a new cargo terminal and maintenance hangar was opened five months late. This was because of expanded specifications vastly to improve Ethiopian Airlines' handling capacity and needs. The facility can accommodate three to four aircraft at a time. This project