# Bosaso Airport (Bender Qassim International, BSA)

> Bosaso's Bender Qassim International Airport (BSA/HCMF): 1980s strip, the 2008 Lootah deal, the 2014–2016 rebuild, runways, and the reported UAE hub role.

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

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA BSA, ICAO HCMF ([OurAirports, HCMF](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMF/)).
- **Where:** on the edge of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), Puntland's commercial capital in the [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region, at 11°16′ N 49°09′ E ([Wikipedia, Bosaso Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosaso_Airport)). Wikipedia calls it the second largest airport in Somalia after Mogadishu's.

## From a laterite strip, 1980s to 2012

The airport was set up in the 1980s with a basic laterite runway ([Horseed Media, January 2016](https://horseedmedia.net/somalia-bosaso-airport-paves-way-for-booming-regional-trade/223031/)). Building of a larger international airport began in 2007 with money from financiers based in the United Arab Emirates ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosaso_Airport)). In 2008 the [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) government signed agreements with Dubai's **Lootah Group** worth 170 million dirhams in a first phase, to set up companies to build and run Bosaso's free trade zone, seaport and airport, including a new 3.4 km runway (same source, citing AME Info). After the 2008 Puntland election the work stopped as attention moved to the capital, [Garowe](/en/infrastructure/garowe-airport/).

## The 2012–2016 rebuild

- **2012:** a production-sharing agreement between Puntland and the Australian oil company Range Resources set aside $5 million for a runway; a brick-laying ceremony followed in November 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosaso_Airport)). See [Oil and gas](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/).
- **September 2013:** a tender drew more than 24 firms. Italy funded the project through UNOPS, to extend the gravel runway from 1,800 to 2,650 metres and widen it from 30 to 45 metres (same source).

## Reported UAE logistics hub

Africa Intelligence reported in 2025 that the United Arab Emirates uses the airport as a logistics hub to supply arms to the Rapid Support Forces in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)'s civil war, and that "no one has any say in Emirati activities within the airport complex" ([Africa Intelligence, 2025](https://www.africaintelligence.com/eastern-africa-and-the-horn/2025/07/01/behind-bosaso-airport-the-uae-s-key-hub-for-supplying-arms-to-sudan,110471327-eve)). Wikipedia repeats that weapons and fighters transit through the airport ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosaso_Airport)). In January 2026 the federal government cancelled its agreements with the UAE, which Puntland rejected; see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/) and [Somalia and the UAE](/en/relations/uae/).

## Related

- [Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/)
- [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/)

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