Hargeisa Airport

Egal International Airport - Hargeisa
IATA: HGA – ICAO: HCMH
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Somaliland Civil Aviation & Air Transport Ministry.
Serves Hargeisa, Somalia
Elevation AMSL 4,423 ft / 1,348 m
Coordinates 09°31′06″N 044°05′20″E / 9.51833°N 44.08889°E / 9.51833; 44.08889Coordinates: 09°31′06″N 044°05′20″E / 9.51833°N 44.08889°E / 9.51833; 44.08889
Map
HGA

Location of airport in Somalia

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
06/24 12,139 3,700 [1] Paved Asphalt
(no ILS)

Hargeisa Egal Airport (IATA: HGA, ICAO: HCMH, (Somali: Madaarka Hargaysa ee Cigaal Arabic: مطار هرجيسا إيغال الدولية‎‎) is an airport in Hargeisa, the capital of the autonomous Somaliland region in northwestern Somalia.[2][3] Named after the region's second president, the airport underwent major renovations in 2012–2013.[4] In 2002 the airport handled 56,000 passengers & 2,300 tons of cargo on a total of 1,750 landings.[5]

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.[5] The airport was then modernized in the 1980s by the Siad Barre administration so as to accommodate larger aircraft and offer more flight destinations.[6]

An Ethiopian Airlines Fokker 50 at Egal Airport in Hargeisa, the capital of the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia.

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 to Egal Airport after the veteran politician Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal. Egal served as Somalia's Prime Minister in the early 1960s during the country's post-independence civilian administration, before later becoming the Somaliland region's second President.

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.[4]

Facilities

In June 2014, the Somaliland regional government 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 the Somaliland region'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.[7]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines offer scheduled passenger service:

AirlinesDestinations
Air Djibouti Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport[8]
African Express Airways Berbera, Cairo, Dubai–International, Mogadishu, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta, Sharjah
Daallo Airlines Djibouti, Dubai–International, Jeddah, Mogadishu–Adde
Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa
Felix Airways Aden, Djibouti, Dubai–International, Jeddah, Mogadishu–Adde, Riyan–Mukalla, Sanaa, Sharjah, Taiz (All suspended)[9]
flydubai Dubai–International[10]
Jubba Airways Bosaso, Djibouti, Dubai–International, Galkayo, Jeddah, Mogadishu

Accidents and incidents

Date Location Aircraft Tail number Aircraft damage Fatalities Description Refs
28 June 1989 Balad Fokker F-27 6O-SAZ W/O 30/30 A Somali Airlines Fokker F-27 bound for Hargeisa crashed approximately 10 minutes after taking off from Mogadishu International Airport. All 24 passengers and 6 crew died. [11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SOMALILAND: President Silanyo Opens Kuwaiti-Funded Egal Airport Runway Extension". somalilandlive.com.
  2. ↑ "Hargeisa". Jubba Airways. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  3. ↑ Somaliland’s Quest for International Recognition and the HBM-SSC Factor
  4. 1 2 "Hargeisa's Egal airport reopens, powered by wind". Somalilandgov. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  5. 1 2 http://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/somalia/documents/more_info/berbera_corridor_pre_feasibilitystudy_executivesummary_en.pdf
  6. ↑ Economist Intelligence Unit (Great Britain), Country report: Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, (The Unit: 1986), p.43.
  7. ↑ "SOMALIA: U.S donates Wind Energy Project to power Hargeisa International Airport". Raxanreeb. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ Ghattas, Abir. "Yemen's No Fly Zone: Thousands of Yemenis are Stranded Abroad". Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  10. ↑ http://www.flydubai.com/en/news/article/flydubai-announces-three-new-routes/
  11. ↑ Harro Ranter (28 June 1989). "ASN Aircraft accident Fokker F-27 Friendship 600RF 6O-SAZ Hargeisa".
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