Bosaso Airport

Bosaso Airport (, , ), also known as Bosaso International Airport, is an airport in Somalia. It sits at 11°16′32″N 49°9′0″E on the outer edge of the city of Bosaso, the commercial capital of the northeastern Puntland macro-region and adjacent to the Gulf of Aden. It is the second largest airport in the country after the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu.

History

Initially, Bosaso Airport was established sometime in the 1980s with a basic laterite runway. Construction of the Bosaso International Airport started in 2007, which would have allowed larger aircraft and international flights to fly into the airport. Funds for the project were initially supplied by United Arab Emirates-based financiers.

thumb|left|The Bosaso International Airport in 2016 after renovations

In 2008, the Puntland government signed a multi-million US dollar deal with Dubai's Lootah Group, a regional industrial organization operating in the Middle East and Africa. According to the agreement, the first phase of the investment was worth Dhs 170m and would see a set of new companies established to build, manage and operate Bosaso's free trade zone and sea and airport facilities. The Bosaso Airport Company was also slated to develop the airport complex to meet international standards, including a new 3.4 km runway, main and auxiliary buildings, taxi and apron areas, and security perimeters.

Following the 2008 Puntland presidential elections, airport renovations came to a standstill as greater focus was placed on activities in the regional capital of Garowe.

In December 2014, the foundation stone for a new runway was laid at the airport. The inauguration event was attended by cabinet ministers, legislators, traditional leaders, and various international officials, including tender winner China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, financial partner and Ambassador of Italy to Somalia Fabrizio Marcelli, and United Nations Office for Project Services representatives. The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation was then slated to upgrade the airport's existing gravel runway, pave it with asphalt, and convert it from 1.8 km to 2.65 km in accordance with the code 4C operations clause.

On 8 January 2016, the renovated and modernized Bosaso Airport was officially reopened. The reopening ceremony was attended by President of the federal republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Puntland president Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, federal and regional ministers, Mayor of Bosaso Yasin Mire Mohamud, the construction company CCECC, the Italian Ambassador, and other distinguished guests and foreign envoys as well as traditional elders, including Ugas Hassan Ugas Yasin.

The United Arab Emirates has used the airport as a logistical hub to provide military support to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. Weapons and mercenaries routinely transit through the airbase in order to back the RSF in the ongoing Sudanese Civil War. According to a 2025 African Intelligence report, "...no one has any say in Emirati activities within the airport complex."

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