Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) said on the 25th it will push ahead with a project to build a digital transformation (DX) foundation at Ethiopia's Bole International Airport. Bole Airport is one of Africa's key hub airports, consolidating more than 140 cities worldwide.
The project is part of an official development assistance (ODA) program publicly recruited and selected by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). It is also the first case in which the corporation provides a digital transformation master plan and pilot smart service implementation for an overseas airport. A corporation official said, "Based on the smart airport operation experience and technological prowess that Incheon Airport has accumulated over the past 20 years, we will advance together with domestic corporations into overseas markets to carry out the project."
The project will proceed in four areas: ▲ establishing a digital transformation master plan and advising the government ▲ pilot smart services such as E-Gates (biometric smart gates) and Flexa (an airport terminal operation optimization simulator) ▲ capacity-building training for the government and airport authorities ▲ benchmarking visits to Incheon Airport by local stakeholders. The project will be carried out over about two years.
Lee Hak-jae, president of Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC), said, "Through this project, we will prove the corporation's accumulated operational experience and technological prowess in overseas markets together with leading domestic corporations."
Meanwhile, the corporation has won a total of 41 overseas projects in 18 countries since starting the "Iraq Erbil New Airport Operation Support Consulting Project" in 2009 (cumulative order value about $450 million). It is expanding its overseas business with a goal of operating more than 10 overseas airports by 2030.
This is the second time collaborating with Ethiopia's Bole International Airport. Earlier, the corporation carried out the "Bole International Airport service capacity improvement project" for eight months from Sep. 2024 to May 2025.