Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — A new Somalia Somaliland airspace dispute has escalated into a direct challenge for international airlines. Both governments are issuing competing directives over visa and permit rules for flights to Hargeisa.
The immediate trigger for the row is Mogadishu’s recent enforcement of a federal e-visa system launched on September 1, 2025.
In an official letter dated October 31, the Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) issued a warning to Flydubai. The agency directed the airline to stop boarding passengers to Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, who did not possess the federal visa.
The SCAA letter, reviewed by Somalia Today, frames the issue as a matter of “border control and national security procedures.”
It explicitly warns that continued transport of passengers without the Somali visa “may expose Flydubai to administrative and regulatory measures,” including the “imposition of financial penalties,” the “suspension of flight operations to Hargeisa,” or “a review of the airline’s operating authorizations within Somali airspace.”
In a direct response, Somaliland’s Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports (MOCAAD) issued its own directive on November 2.
The Hargeisa-based ministry announced that, effective November 10, all aircraft must obtain a specific “Overflight Permit” from Somaliland’s authorities before entering its airspace.
Somaliland’s decree, citing the 1944 Chicago Convention on international aviation, “reaffirms” that the Republic of Somaliland “has complete authority and sovereignty over its territory, sea, and air.”
Sovereignty at stake
The conflicting orders place international carriers like Flydubai in a difficult position, caught between two competing administrations. Flydubai did not immediately respond to an Somalia Today request for comment on the directives.
Hargeisa operates its own visa-on-arrival and e-visa systems for travelers. It views the federal directive to enforce Mogadishu’s e-visa as a direct violation of its self-proclaimed independence.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 following a brutal civil war. Despite maintaining its own government, currency, military, and holding democratic elections, it has not gained formal international recognition.
The United Nations and most of the world officially consider Somaliland an autonomous region of Somalia. This includes the federal government in Mogadishu.
Somaliland’s counter-directive also warned that airlines failing to secure its permits “may face administrative penalties including fines and legal measures under aviation laws.”
Travelers have reported uncertainty as carriers implement new document workflows. Diplomatic guidance says most foreign visitors should apply online for Somali e-visa approval before travel, replacing ad-hoc visa-on-arrival in many cases.
Industry sources say airlines are reviewing gate and check-in procedures to ensure consistent verification.
Airlines are expected to comply while seeking clarity from both authorities. Carriers generally avoid operational risk and tend to enforce the strictest applicable rule until a unified approach is agreed.
Somalia’s Hargeisa e-visa checks are likely to remain in place unless Mogadishu and Hargeisa settle on a joint protocol for Hargeisa-bound passengers.
A history of airspace control
This aviation authority clash is the latest flashpoint in a long-running grievance over who controls the skies above Somaliland.
For decades after Somalia’s central government collapsed in 1991, the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) managed the airspace from a control center in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2018, the ICAO formally transferred control back to the federal government in Mogadishu.
Somaliland fiercely contested the handover, viewing it as the ICAO giving Mogadishu authority over Hargeisa’s territory without its consent.
Somaliland officials have repeatedly accused Mogadishu of reneging on previous power-sharing talks. These talks included an agreement signed in Istanbul, Turkey, that proposed joint management of the airspace and an equitable sharing of overflight revenues. According to Hargeisa, the federal government never implemented those agreements.
In its November 2 directive, the Somaliland ministry justified its new permit requirement as necessary to “ensure safety, security, and regularity of air navigation” and “enhance emergency response… and search and rescue (SAR) operations” at its Hargeisa Egal International Airport (HGA) and Berbera International Airport (BBO).
The dispute has previously raised significant safety concerns. In recent years, reports have emerged of rival controllers issuing conflicting air traffic control instructions to flights.
The latest directives, however, move the Somalia Somaliland airspace dispute from a political grievance to a direct operational and regulatory conflict. Airlines and their passengers are now caught in the middle.
