Mogadishu International Airport

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Mogadishu International Airport
IATA: MGQ - ICAO: HCMM
Summary
Airport type		Joint (civil and military)
Serves		Mogadishu
Elevation AMSL		ft ( m)
Coordinates

Mogadishu International Airport is the international airport of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. It was the base of the United States Marines during Operation Restore Hope. Recent fighting and the Somali civil war have devastated the airport and left it largely useless.

On July 15, 2006, Islamists re-opened the airport after being closed for eleven years. The first flight to arrive at and take-off from the airport was an airplane occupied by Arab League officials. While there, the plane docked an Islamic delegation, which flew the delegation to Sudan for peace talks.^[1]

After reopening, African Express Airways was the first international airline to land at Mogadishu International Airport on August 3, 2006. The flight had departed from Nairobi [1].

On Christmas Day 2006, the airport was bombed by Ethiopian fighter jets. The Russian-made jets dropped two bombs in order to prevent the delivery of arms and supplies to the Islamists. [2]

On March 23, an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft was shot down immediatly after takeoff. See 2007 Transaviaexport Cargo Airline Ilyushin Il-76 airplane crash.

On March 30, an Ethiopian Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunship was shot down near the airport by Islamic insurgents, the 2 Ethiopian pilots were instantly killed. See War in Somalia (2006–present)