Ethiopian Airline’s Achilles heel

Ethiopian Airlines is now the continent’s largest airline by fleet size, passenger numbers, revenue and profit — an astonishing success story that has left its main competitors, South African Airways and Kenyan Airways, languishing in its contrails. But the airline has grown so fast that its main hub airport — Bole International in Addis Ababa — failed to keep pace. Built in 2005 to handle 5.5m passengers annually, more than 10m travellers now meander slowly - very slowly - through Bole’s congested security checks every year, putting unbearable pressure on the airport’s limited facilities. But that’s all supposed to change with the official opening this year of an expanded passenger terminal designed to accommodate 22m passengers. <br/>