Hargeisa Egal International Airport HGA / HCMH

HGA is Somaliland's principal international gateway, serving the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, administratively and politically separate from Somalia's federal government in Mogadishu despite sharing Somalia's ICAO/UN seat. Somaliland is not a member of the UN or AU; as of this writing only one UN member state, Israel, has granted it bilateral recognition (formally on 26 December 2025, with ambassadors exchanged and an embassy opened in Jerusalem in 2026) -- a genuine but still isolated diplomatic development, not general international recognition, and worth re-checking for further changes. Hargeisa itself has been comparatively stable and free of active conflict since the early 1990s, unlike parts of southern/central Somalia, but planners should note Somaliland issues its own entry visa/stamp that is not recognized as a Somalia visa (and vice versa). The runway (06/24, 3,700m x 45m, asphalt, no ILS) underwent major renovations in 2012-13 funded by Somaliland, the Kuwait Fund, and USAID, reopening in August 2013 with enlarged terminals; available sources describe this only as a major renovation and do not confirm whether the runway itself was lengthened versus resurfaced/repaired. A further UAE-funded redevelopment plan (about $70M, Maharat Investment Company, two new terminals plus a new ATC tower) has been reported but is unconfirmed as to status. The ~250,000 (2024) passenger figure is an estimate -- no CAAA/SLCAA-published annual traffic report was located; the last hard public figure found was approximately 171,000 passengers for 2021 (post-COVID rebound, +54.9% year-on-year), so the 2024 number should be treated as directional rather than verified.