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Bosaso Airport (Bender Qassim International, BSA)
Bosaso Airport (IATA BSA, ICAO HCMF), also called Bender Qassim International Airport, serves Puntland's port city of Boosaaso on the Gulf of Aden. It began in the 1980s as a laterite strip. After an Italian-funded rebuild by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation it reopened on 8 January 2016 with a paved runway of about 2,650 metres. A 2025 Africa Intelligence report named it a UAE logistics hub for the war in Sudan.
At a glance
- Codes: IATA BSA, ICAO HCMF (OurAirports, HCMF).
- Where: on the edge of Bosaso, Puntland's commercial capital in the Bari region, at 11°16′ N 49°09′ E (Wikipedia, 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). Building of a larger international airport began in 2007 with money from financiers based in the United Arab Emirates (Wikipedia). In 2008 the 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.
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). See 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's civil war, and that "no one has any say in Emirati activities within the airport complex" (Africa Intelligence, 2025). Wikipedia repeats that weapons and fighters transit through the airport (Wikipedia). In January 2026 the federal government cancelled its agreements with the UAE, which Puntland rejected; see Somalia's seaports and Somalia and the UAE.
Related
Sources
- OurAirports, HCMF · ourairports.com
- Wikipedia, Bosaso Airport · en.wikipedia.org
- Horseed Media, January 2016 · horseedmedia.net
- Africa Intelligence, 2025 · africaintelligence.com
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