Hargeisa Airport

History

The airport was opened in 1954 by the British RAF. An expansion program was launched shortly afterwards, and by 1958, a taxiway, parking area and terminal building had been built. The airport was modernized in the 1980s by the Siad Barre administration so as to accommodate larger aircraft and offer more flight destinations.

During the events leading up to the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s, the airport's infrastructure was significantly damaged. However, the facility was gradually rehabilitated over the next several years.

The airport was later renamed Egal Airport after the veteran politician Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal. He served as Somalia's prime minister in the early 1960s during the country's post-independence civilian administration, before later becoming the second president of Somaliland.

In 2012, the airport's routes were temporarily suspended as its runway underwent major renovations, funded by the Somaliland authorities, Kuwait Fund and USAID. The facility was later reopened on 17 August 2013, with enlarged arrival and departure terminals, as well as five new wind turbines. An installed wind data monitoring station will also assist in powering the airport.

Somaliland Airlines was made the national carrier in 2024, with only light planes to train pilots and likely plane orders such as Boeing 777 and Airbus Airbus A330, Somaliland plans Somaliland airline to be the national carrier with recent expansion of from one terminal to two terminals in Hargeisa airport.

Facilities

In June 2014, the Government of Somaliland and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) inaugurated a new wind energy project at the airport. The new wind power facility is under the authority of the Somaliland Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, which will manage it through a public-private partnership and oversee its daily operations. The initiative is part of the larger Partnership for Economic Growth, a bilateral program that has invested over $14 million in Somaliland's energy, livestock and agriculture sectors as well as in private sector development. The partnership aims in particular to establish local renewable energy technologies, with the new wind energy facility expected to offer a more cost effective alternative to diesel fuel. It is also slated to provide power to both the Hargeisa airport and the surrounding communities.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines offer scheduled passenger service or a new company's created: | African Express Airways |Berbera, Cairo, Dubai–International, Mogadishu, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta, Sharjah | Daallo Airlines |Djibouti, Dubai–International, Jeddah, Mogadishu | Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa | flydubai | Dubai–International | Freedom Airline Express | Mogadishu | Jubba Airways | Bosaso, Dubai–International, Jeddah, Mogadishu

Ground transport

Road systems within the city link towards Hargeisa Airport through Airport Road.

Facilities

• Cafés
• Gift shop
• Bank
• Currency exchange (car park area)
• First aid facilities
• Prayer rooms
• VIP area

Cargo

The following airlines offer scheduled cargo service: | Ethiopian Cargo | Addis Ababa

References

References

1. "SOMALILAND: President Silanyo Opens Kuwaiti-Funded Egal Airport Runway Extension". somalilandlive.com.
2. (20 August 2013). "Hargeisa's Egal airport reopens, powered by wind". Somalilandgov.
3. Berger, Louis. (2013). "The European Commission Delegation of the European Commission in Kenya - Pre-Feasibility Study of the Regional Transport Sector in Berbera Corridor".
4. Economist Intelligence Unit (Great Britain), ''Country report: Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti'', (The Unit: 1986), p.43.
5. (7 June 2014). "SOMALIA: U.S donates Wind Energy Project to power Hargeisa International Airport".
6. "Dubai, United Arab Emirates DXB".
7. (10 December 2014). "flydubai announces three new routes".