# Night Landing Reported at Egal International Airport in 2015

> Somaliland Sun reported on 2015-05-27 that a night landing was made at Egal International Airport after solar runway lighting was installed.

- By: Editorial Team, Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com/about)
- Published: 1 October 2026
- Format: News story (reported from one named public source)
- Publication: Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com)
- Subject: Infrastructure and Services
- Tags: ports, utilities
- Web version: https://somaliconstructionreview.com/blog/egal-airport-night-landing-2015-report

## Key points

- On 27 May 2015, Somaliland Sun reported that an aircraft made a night landing at Egal International Airport in Hargeisa, described as the first time ever.
- The report said solar-powered lights had been installed along the entire length of the 3.7km runway, and that a ministry official claimed ICAO approved the system.
- The report does not establish that 24/7 scheduled operations began, continued or were suspended, and gives no contract value or funding figure.

On 27 May 2015, Somaliland Sun reported a night landing at Egal International Airport in Hargeisa, which it described as the first ever night landing at the airport. The report is the only record in this material for the landing, the runway lighting that it says made the landing possible, and the funding behind it. It does not establish what happened after that date.

According to Somaliland Sun, the landing was made possible after solar powered lights were put in place along the entire length of the 3.7km runway at the airport. The same report said that passengers had previously been able to travel only during daytime because the airport did not have runway lighting to allow flights at night. Runway length and the extent of the lighting installation are as the newspaper described them; no independent verification is cited.

Somaliland Sun reported that the night flight test was conducted using an A.N30 airplane that took off from the airport at around 10pm on a Tuesday night and landed back at 10.20pm after overflying the city. The newspaper said the test was termed successful by the flight director at the aviation ministry, Eng Saeed Mahdi Ileeye 'sakiire', who was aboard. It did not give a calendar date for the test.

On the regulatory side, Somaliland Sun reported that the lighting system was approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which it said termed the system apt and to world standards. That claim came from Sadam Mohamed Ahmed, an official at the Somaliland ministry of aviation and air transport, speaking through the newspaper. No ICAO document, decision reference or date is cited.

> **Note:** The report rests on a single newspaper account. No airport authority record, civil aviation regulator notice, NOTAM or flight log is cited for the landing or for the lighting installation.

The same report said that both Egal and Berbera airports had in the recent past seen massive upgrading under multi-million funding from the Kuwait and Somaliland governments. It gives no quantified value, currency, agreement date or disbursement evidence for that funding, and does not state whether any of it was spent. No contract value, contractor, consultant or completion date is given for the runway lighting works.

What the report leaves open matters for anyone tracking airport capacity in Somaliland. It does not establish that scheduled round-the-clock operations began, that they continued, or that they were later suspended. It does not set out current operating hours, current night-flight capability or any post-2015 development. The night flight is described as a test, not as the start of scheduled commercial night service.

The next verifiable steps would be primary records: an airport or regulator statement on operating hours, a notice to airmen, or a procurement or contract document for the runway lighting. Until those appear, the 2015-05-27 Somaliland Sun report stands as a claim of a test landing and an installed lighting system attributed to a single newspaper.

## Questions

### What did Somaliland Sun report about Egal International Airport on 2015-05-27?

It reported that an aircraft made a night landing at Egal International Airport in Hargeisa, described as the first time ever, and that the landing was made possible after solar powered lights were installed along the entire length of the 3.7km runway.

### Did 24/7 operations at Egal airport continue after 2015?

The evidence does not establish whether round-the-clock scheduled operations began, continued or were suspended. The report describes a night test flight, not the start of scheduled commercial night service, and gives no post-2015 operating status.

### How much did the runway lighting and airport upgrades cost?

No figure is given. Somaliland Sun described multi-million funding from the Kuwait and Somaliland governments for upgrades at Egal and Berbera airports, but the report states no amount, currency, agreement date or disbursement.

## Sources

- [Somaliland: Egal International Airport Starts Handling Flights 24/7](https://somalilandsun.com/somaliland-egal-international-airport-starts-handling-flights-247/) — Somaliland Sun, 2015-05-27