Bole International Airport is the main airport of Ethiopia and one of the busiest hubs in all of Africa. It is 6 km southeast from the centre of Addis Ababa.

Understand

Bole International Airport is the hub for Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline in Africa. Ethiopian has several times more destinations than the other airlines combined, from African, European, Asian, North and South American destinations. If you travel nonstop from somewhere further away, you will fly on Ethiopian. Other than that, airlines from the Middle East, North and East Africa serve Addis Ababa from their home bases.

The airport has over 500 flights per day and serves 22 million passengers per year.

Visitor information

• Airport website

Flights

Bole has four terminals:

Terminal 1 Dedicated to domestic flights.

Terminal 2 Dedicated to international flights.

Terminal 3 Reserved for guests at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel.

Terminal 4 The largest and newest terminal.

Ground transportation

Access into the terminals is restricted, as of July 2019. Taxis and anyone who comes to meet you will be out in the carpark, though a dozen of the top hotels still have a booth inside the arrivals area. Similar rules apply at the other airports in the country, for both arrivals and departures. Many hotels will send a vehicle to pick up guests if you have arranged it. The Sheraton Addis, Dreamliner, Hilton Addis, most other hotels, and many popular guesthouses provide a regular shuttle service for guests. There is a public transport stop a bit outside, under the highway (Ring Road) bridge.

As of 2024, the airport is still more than 4 km (2.5 mi) from the closest Light Rail Transit station, which makes it unconnected in practice. That's not much less than the distance to central Addis, so for most travellers there's little use to go to and from the airport using light rail. In the future, a new line is planned to connect Bole Airport to the rest of the Light Rail Transit network.

There are fixed taxi fee of 150-300 birr to get from the airport to practically any place in the city center, as of April 2024 . Taxi drivers gather in a parking lot next to the airport. Most likely they will approach you shouting "Taxi!" Legitimate drivers should have their car marked in yellow/green color and place a license in a visible place.

Foreigners are often greeted by a throng of locals attempting to "help" load their luggage into cars. They're largely harmless and just looking for a tip, but it could be easy to lose a bag. An appropriate tip for a minor task like loading luggage into a car is 5 to 15 birr (ignore requests for more money just because you are a foreigner). If you have one person help you, twenty will ask for a tip. If you have a driver pick you up at the airport they will typically take care of any tips for you. Avoid walking alone around the airport, especially at night.

Wait

Bole has three lounges at terminal 2 at gate A13:

• Cloud-9 Lounge (Terminal 2, at gate A13). Open 24/7. A lounge reserved for business class passengers. 

• Sheba Platinum Lounge (Terminal 2, at gate A13). Open 24/7. A lounge reserved for ShebaMiles platinum members. 

• Star Alliance Gold Lounge (Terminal 2, at gate A13). Open 24/7. A lounge reserved for ShebaMiles gold members and all other Star Alliance carriers’s gold members. 

Eat and drink

Terminal 2

Cravings Restaurant & Bar

Buy

Duty-free

Alfarag Duty Free has duty-free luxury goods for sale in terminal 1 and 2.

Connect

Wifi can be accessed anywhere in the airport for free, but you have to pay after 2 hours.

Sleep

• 1 Ethiopian Skylight Hotel, Airport Road Addis Ababa 1755, ☏ +251 11681 8181, reservation@ethiopianskylighthotel.com. The Ethiopian Skylight Hotel is a 5-minute walk away from the airport, with an additional 97 rooms in the airport itself. US$160. 

Nearby