Somali Airlines is the flag carrier of Somalia. Established in 1964, it historically offered flights to both domestic and international destinations. The airline discontinued operations in 1991 after the start of the Somali civil war. The airline was officially relaunched by the Somali government on 28 July 2025, with an initial purchase agreement for two Airbus A320 aircraft.
History
General
Somali Airlines was founded on 5 March 1964 as the newly independent Somalia's national airline.
thumb|Somali Airlines [[Douglas DC-3]]
Shortly after the carrier was formed, four Douglas DC-3s were donated by the United States. The airline began operations in , initially serving domestic destinations with a fleet of three DC-3s and two Cessna 180s. In 1976, the company purchased two Boeing 720Bs from American Airlines, the two last ones in service with the American carrier. It also ordered a further two Boeing 707s. Colonel Mohamoud Gulaid was appointed chairman and CEO during 1983. At , the number of employees was 714 and the fleet had reduced to include two Boeing 707-320Cs and two F.27-600s, with routes operated from Berbera and Mogadishu to Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Nairobi and Rome.
Suspension
Due to the outbreak of the civil war all of the carrier's operations were officially suspended in 1991.
Relaunch
thumb|Somali Airlines Airbus A310-200 at [[Fiumicino Airport (1989)]]In April 2012, former Somali Airlines pilots, Abikar Nur and Ahmed Elmi Gure, met with aviation officials at the Lufthansa Flight Training Center in Phoenix, United States, to discuss the possibility of resuming the historic working relationship between Somali Airlines and Lufthansa. The meeting ended with a pledge by the school's chairman, Captain Matthias Kippenberg, to assist the Somali aviation authorities in training prospective pilots. The Somali authorities along with the Somali Civil Aviation Steering Committee (SCASC) — a joint commission composed of officials from Somalia's federal and regional governments as well as members of the CACAS, ICAO/TCB and UNDP, convened with international aviation groups in Montreal to request support for the ongoing rehabilitation efforts. The SCASC set a three-year window for reconstruction of the national civil aviation capacity. It also requested the complete transfer of Somali civil aviation operations and assets from the CACAS caretaker body to the Somali authorities. The plane was concurrently being painted in the Somali national colours ahead of delivery. A staff representative for the Slovakian SAMair company, Zsolt Kovács, also indicated that another aircraft was also undergoing construction at the airport and that both planes had been purchased from SAMair by the Somali federal authorities on behalf of Somali Airlines.
Later that month, Somalia took back full control of its airspace for the first time in 27 years. The responsibility was handed over to the Somali Civil Aviation Authority in Mogadishu, ending years of management from outside the country.
In October 2022, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation announced the formation of a seven-member committee. The committee was tasked with drafting a plan to relaunch Somali Airlines. They were given one month to assess the viability of reviving Somali Airlines and to submit a comprehensive report within 30 days.
In January 2023, Somalia’s airspace was upgraded to Class A after almost 30 years of disruption. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority began managing Class A airspace over the Mogadishu Flight Information Region (FIR), following coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
In 2024, in an interview on Somali National Television (SNTV), Director of the Somali Civil Aviation Authority affirmed the government’s operational readiness. He said the authority is fully prepared and has the capacity to certify the airline, issue air operator approvals, and license both flight crew and maintenance personnel. He emphasized that if Somali Airlines were to commence operations tomorrow, all necessary regulatory support is already in place.
He also revealed that he served on the committee overseeing the relaunch preparations. According to him, the committee has successfully resolved all outstanding legacy documentation, regulatory challenges, operational issues, and other matters inherited from the former Somali Airlines.
According to Somali National Television (SNTV), cadets who successfully complete their Private Pilot Licence in Mogadishu would be sent to Italy, specifically Milan, thorough a government partnership with an Italian flight school. There they will pursue advanced certifications including the Commercial Pilot License (CPL), Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL), and aircraft type ratings. The report said that some pilots will work for Somali Airlines and others will join the Somali Air Force.
On 23 March 2025, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Mohamed Abdullahi Farah, stated the government’s intention to bring Somali Airlines back into service. He confirmed that the first phase would focus on regional flights and rebuilding the airline step by step.
Following the March announcement, in May 2025, the government appointed Abdulahi Iman as the airline’s Chief Executive Officer. The move marked the first tangible step toward the airline’s operational revival, transitioning from planning to implementation.
Official revival
On 28 July 2025, the Somali government officially revived Somali Airlines after 34 years without operations in international and regional routes. Speaking on Somali National Television, the Minister of Transport announced that a purchase agreement was signed with Lema Holdings (which is a global holding company with interests across various sectors) for two Airbus A320 aircraft, and he confirmed that the deal was finalized at the Prime Minister’s office in Mogadishu after several months of negotiations, including meetings held in multiple countries.
On the 27th of October, the Minister announced that the final preparations were in place and that Somali Airlines is poised to resume operation by the beginning of 2026. He stated "I want to share good news with the Somali people - before the end of this year, Somali Airlines will officially resume operations."
Destinations
The following is a list of destinations the airline served throughout its history:
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Country
!City
!Airport
!class="unsortable"|Refs
|-
|Djibouti||Djibouti City||Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport||align=center|
|-
|rowspan="4"|Somalia||Berbera||Berbera Airport||align=center|
|-
!Total
!2
!
!
!
|-
|}
Former fleet
thumb|A Somali Airlines [[Boeing 707-320B at Fiumicino Airport (1989).]]
Somali Airlines operated the following aircraft all through its history:
- Airbus A310-200
- Airbus A310-300
- Boeing 707-120B
- Boeing 707-320
- Boeing 707-320B
- Boeing 707-320C
- Boeing 720B
- Boeing 727-200
- Douglas C-47A
- Fokker F27-200
- Fokker F27-600
- Viscount 742D
Accidents and incidents
According to Aviation Safety Network, Somali Airlines experienced six events throughout its history; five of the occurrences carried with the hull-loss of the aircraft involved, and three of them had fatalities.
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Date
!Location
!Aircraft
!Tail number
!Aircraft damage
!Fatalities
!class="unsortable"|Description
!class="unsortable"|Refs
|-
|align=center|
|
|align=center|Viscount 700
|align=center|6O-AAJ
|align=center|W/O
|align=center|/30
|The aircraft was on final approach to Mogadishu International Airport when control was lost due to a fire that erupted in the cargo hold. Upon a nose-down landing, the nosegear collapsed and the airplane continued rolling on her nose until it came to rest. The fire intensified, eventually engulfing the fuselage and destroying it completely.
|align=center|
|-
|align=center|
| Bosaso
|align=center|
|align=center|6O-SAC
|align=center|W/O
|align=center|/11
|Crashed shortly after takeoff from Bosaso Airport, following a failure on the port engine.
|align=center|
|-
|align=center|
| Balad
|align=center|
|align=center|6O-SAY
|align=center|W/O
|align=center|/50
|Flight 40 crashed near Balad and burned out, minutes after take-off from Mogadishu International Airport on a domestic scheduled Mogadishu–Hargeisa passenger service. The aircraft encountered severe turbulence on its flight path when it entered an area of heavy rain and started to dive. The stresses the airframe went through during the dive—up to 5.76 g—exceeded the ones it could possibly withstand, and parts of the starboard wing got detached.
|align=center|
|-
|align=center|
| Nairobi
|align=center|
|align=center|6O-SBT
|align=center|W/O
|align=center|/70
|Overran the wet runway at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport following an aborted take-off.
|align=center|
|-
|align=center|
|
|align=center|F27-200RF
|align=center|6O-SAZ
|align=center|W/O
|align=center|/30
|Rebels claimed to have shot down the aircraft, that had departed from Hargeisa International Airport bound for Mogadishu, during initial climbout.
|align=center|
|-
|align=center|
|
|
|
|
|align=center|0
|Gunshots fired at a Somali Airlines aircraft at Mogadishu Airport following an attempt by an armed group of individuals to board an Italian cargo plane "that had just landed to deliver relief supplies to refugees. There were arrests but no injuries reported in the incident."
|align=center|
|}
See also
- Transport in Somalia
References
Bibliography
External links
- Somali Civil Aviation Authority