# Poor visibility halts Flydubai landings at Egal Airport for two days

> Somaliland Standard reported Flydubai failed to land at Egal Airport twice in January 2020, citing visibility and missing landing aids.

- By: Editorial Team, Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com/about)
- Published: 30 September 2026
- Format: News story (reported from one named public source)
- Publication: Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com)
- Subject: Infrastructure and Services
- Tags: utilities, construction-safety, roads
- Web version: https://somaliconstructionreview.com/blog/flydubai-egal-airport-visibility-landings

## Key points

- On 15 January 2020, Somaliland Standard reported that Flydubai failed to land at Egal International Airport in Hargeisa on two consecutive days owing to poor visibility and a lack of landing systems.
- The report cited a passenger's account and local media claims about missing instrument approach facilities, but no aviation authority has confirmed the incidents or causes.
- No update is available on whether instrument landing systems have been installed at the airport since the report.

On 15 January 2020, Somaliland Standard reported that Flydubai, the Emirati government-owned airline, failed on two consecutive occasions to land at Egal International Airport in Hargeisa. The report attributed the failures to poor visibility and a lack of landing systems at the facility.

A passenger aboard the airline on 11 and 12 January told Somaliland Standard that the plane could not land at Egal Airport and was forced to return to Dubai via Djibouti airport on the two consecutive days. The report added that Ethiopian Airlines also cancelled their daily scheduled flights to Egal Airport due to bad weather.

Local media, according to Somaliland Standard, reported that Egal Airport does not have Instrument Approach facilities such as the Instrument Landing System (ILS) or VOR approach system, which enable aircraft to land during low visibility. The report also stated that Egal Airport is on a high altitude area of up to 4,437 ft above sea level, making it more vulnerable to visibility problems. In contrast, Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu also lacks instrument approach facilities but is less vulnerable because it is at low altitude, reported as only 30 ft above sea level.

Somaliland Standard further reported that the failed landing report came barely two days after Horn Cable editor Abdikadir Asayr was sentenced to one year by a court in Hargeisa over a story in which Flydubai is alleged to have complained about safety at Egal Airport. The report does not state that the sentencing and the landing failures are causally linked.

No statement from Flydubai or any aviation authority confirming the failed landings is available. There are no official records or incident reports from Egal Airport or Somaliland's Civil Aviation Authority in the report. The claim that Egal Airport lacks ILS or VOR approach systems is attributed to unspecified local media and has not been independently verified. The report from 2020 does not provide any update on whether landing systems have been installed or improved at Egal Airport since then.

## Questions

### Why couldn't Flydubai land at Egal Airport in January 2020?

Somaliland Standard reported that poor visibility and a lack of landing systems at Egal Airport caused the failed landings, but no aviation authority has confirmed this.

### What landing equipment does Egal Airport lack?

According to Somaliland Standard, local media reported that Egal Airport lacks Instrument Approach facilities such as the Instrument Landing System (ILS) or VOR approach system.

### Has Egal Airport installed instrument landing systems since the report?

No update is available on whether instrument landing systems have been installed or improved at Egal Airport since the 15 January 2020 report.

## Sources

- [Flydubai fails to land at Egal Airport for two days owing to poor visibility](https://somalilandstandard.com/flydubai-fails-to-land-at-egal-airport-for-two-days-owing-to-poor-visibility/) — Somaliland Standard, 2020-01-15