Ethiopia's growth vision sees Addis Ababa becoming the central hub for African air traffic

On a continent that is deemed to be the weakest for air transport there is a stand out airline that continues to grow. Ethiopian Airlines has taken over as the African 'flag carrier' from South African Airways, Kenya Airways, Royal Air Maroc and EgyptAir. It has the biggest fleet by a margin and is rapidly establishing itself as the leading hub carrier through its base at Addis Ababa's Bole Airport.

But Bole is creaking under the weight of both utilisation and expectation, prompting the airline to head up the construction of a new facility, Bishoftu, the construction of which has begun and which involves other financing partners such as the African Development Bank.

Airbus forecasts strong potential for growth in Ethiopia, with passenger numbers to increase six-fold in the next 20 years.

Ethiopia has a high GDP. But there is another argument, that putting Ethiopia at the centre of the travel needs of not only 130 million people but the 1.6 billion in Africa can only benefit its economy further.