# Berbera International Airport (BBO)

> Berbera International Airport (BBO/HCMI): the Soviet-built 4 km runway, NASA Space Shuttle years, the 2015 terminal and the 2021 UAE-funded reopening.

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

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA BBO, ICAO HCMI ([OurAirports, HCMI](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMI/)).
- **Runway:** one asphalt runway, 05/23. OurAirports lists it at 13,582 feet (about 4,140 metres); the field is about 30 feet above sea level ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMI/)). Wikipedia calls it one of the longest runways on the continent ([Wikipedia, Berbera Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)).
- **Where:** beside the port city of [Berbera](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). The town's seaport is on [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).
- **Website:** [berbera-airport.com](https://www.berbera-airport.com/).

## A Cold War runway

The Soviet Union built the runway in the mid-1970s, when Somalia was its ally, as part of a wider military presence at Berbera ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). After Somalia broke with Moscow in 1977 and turned to the United States, the US space agency **NASA** rented the airport, reportedly for $40 million a year, as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle, from 1980 until the Somali government fell in 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)).

## The 2015 terminal

In 2012 Somaliland's Ministry of Civil Aviation hired the Ethiopian builder Tekleberhan Ambaye Construction (TACON), in a joint venture with Afro-Tsion Contracting and Investment, to build a new terminal and a perimeter fence. The project cost 83 million Ethiopian birr ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). President [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) (Silanyo) opened the terminal in March 2015, with officials from Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen present ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). The terminal stands on a 3,200 square metre plot, and the fence runs for 12 km (same source).

## The UAE rebuild and 2021 reopening

In 2019, after a six-day visit to the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) by Somaliland's president [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), the UAE announced it would restore the airport. The Dubai-based Transport Infrastructure Services Limited (TISL) carried out the work, and the airport reopened to international passengers on **20 November 2021** ([Hawilti, November 2021](https://hawilti.com/infrastructure/aviation/berbera-international-airport-officially-opens-after-successful-renovation-by-the-uae/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). The rebuild came alongside DP World's expansion of Berbera port and the Berbera corridor road to Ethiopia; see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Airlines

As of November 2021 Ethiopian Airlines had scheduled flights to Berbera. African Express Airways and Daallo Airlines earlier flew domestic and some regional routes from it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). In 2024 Somaliland set up a state-funded carrier, Somaliland Airlines, starting with light aircraft to train pilots (same source). For other carriers see [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/).

## Related

- [Hargeisa's Egal International Airport](/en/infrastructure/egal-international-airport-hargeisa/)
- [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/)
- [Ethiopia–Somaliland border trade](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/)

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