Hargeisa Airport

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

Egal International Airport

Madaarka Caalamiga ah ee Cigaal
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerSomaliland Civil Aviation & Air Transport Ministry.
ServesHargeisa, Somaliland
Elevation AMSL4,423 ft / 1,348 m
Coordinates09°31′06″N 044°05′20″E
Map
HGA
Location of airport in Somaliland
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
06/24 12,139 3,700 [1] Paved Asphalt
(no ILS)

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.[3] The airport was then modernized in the 1980s by the Siad Barre administration so as to accommodate larger aircraft and offer more flight destinations.[4]

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 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.[2]

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.[5]

Airlines and destinations
A Flydubai Boeing 737-800

The following airlines offer scheduled passenger service:

AirlinesDestinations
Air Djibouti Djibouti[6]
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[7]
Jubba Airways Bosaso, Dubai–International, Jeddah, Mogadishu
National Airways Ethiopia Addis Ababa, 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. [8]
Egal International Airport

See also

References
  1. "SOMALILAND: President Silanyo Opens Kuwaiti-Funded Egal Airport Runway Extension". somalilandlive.com.
  2. "Hargeisa's Egal airport reopens, powered by wind". Somalilandgov. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  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" (PDF). Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  4. Economist Intelligence Unit (Great Britain), Country report: Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, (The Unit: 1986), p.43.
  5. "SOMALIA: U.S donates Wind Energy Project to power Hargeisa International Airport". Raxanreeb. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. http://www.flydubai.com/en/news/article/flydubai-announces-three-new-routes/
  8. Harro Ranter (28 June 1989). "ASN Aircraft accident Fokker F-27 Friendship 600RF 6O-SAZ Hargeisa".

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