# Abdullahi Yusuf Airport, Galkayo (GLK)

> Galkayo's Abdullahi Yusuf Airport (GLK/HCMR): runway, the Puntland–Galmudug fee split, the 1982 air raid, the 2012 renaming and security incidents.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/abdullahi-yusuf-airport-galkayo/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA GLK, ICAO HCMR ([OurAirports, HCMR](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMR/)).
- **Runways:** OurAirports lists two parallel strips, 05L/23R asphalt and 05R/23L turf, each 9,859 feet (about 3,005 metres) long; the field sits 975 feet above sea level ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMR/)).
- **Name:** renamed on 25 March 2012 in memory of Colonel [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), former President of Somalia, who was born in Galkayo ([AllAfrica, March 2012](http://allafrica.com/stories/201203260082.html); [Wikipedia, Abdullahi Yusuf Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Airport)).
- **City:** Gaalkacyo (Galkayo), in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/). For the city's trade role see [Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/).

## Shared by a divided city

Galkayo is split between a northern part run by [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and a southern part run by [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/). The airport is administered by Puntland, like most of the city, and Wikipedia records that it has served as a buffer zone between the two parts. Taxes collected by the airport authority are split equally between the Puntland and Galmudug administrations, an arrangement that has helped relations between them ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Airport), citing [Africa Review, "Galkayo: a peaceful island in Somalia"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120310111111/http://www.africareview.com/Special+Reports/-/979182/1137760/-/10umx61z/-/index.html)).

## The 1982 air raid

During the 1982 Ethiopian incursion into Somalia, waves of Ethiopian Air Force jets bombed the airport and its anti-aircraft defences with bombs and rockets. Wikipedia records that they missed, and that the runway, which was then being lengthened, was not damaged ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Airport)).

## Security incidents

- **7 April 2014:** two United Nations staff, a British man and a French man, were shot dead in their car at the airport by a man in police uniform. The UN Secretary-General and Security Council condemned the killing ([Reuters, April 2014](https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA361X320140407)).
- **2 October 2017:** the airport's chief of security, Colonel Abdisalan Sanyare Owke, and his bodyguard were shot dead by a policeman ([Goobjoog](https://goobjooge.net/police-chief-airport-somalias-puntland-shot-dead/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Airport)).

## Flights

For the Somali carriers that serve the city see [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/). OurAirports marks the airport as having scheduled service ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMR/)). Nearby fields: [Garowe](/en/infrastructure/garowe-airport/) to the north and [Mogadishu](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) to the south.

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