The Foreign Airline Market: Who Is Carrying Somali Passengers?
There is another side to Somalia’s aviation story that deserves serious attention.
Somalia is generating millions of dollars from aircraft using its airspace, yet a large share of the commercial aviation business generated by Somali passengers is being captured by foreign airlines.
This is not necessarily a problem in itself.
Foreign airlines provide essential connectivity. They bring competition, offer passengers choices and connect Somalia to major international hubs.
But it raises an important economic question:
Why has Somalia not been able to capture a larger share of the aviation market created by its own people?
Today, passengers travelling from Mogadishu can connect to destinations across East Africa, the Middle East and beyond through a growing number of airlines. Turkish Airlines operates direct service to Istanbul, Ethiopian Airlines connects Mogadishu with Addis Ababa, Uganda Airlines serves Entebbe, while other carriers and regional airlines provide connections through Nairobi, Djibouti, Jeddah, Dubai and other hubs. Current route data shows a substantial and diverse airline presence at Mogadishu. https://aviability.com/en/airport/mgq-mogadishu/destinations and this too https://www.flightconnections.com/flights-from-mogadishu-mgq
This competition is evidence of something very positive:
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2026-releases/2026-04-30-01
IATA Pilots Billing & Settlement Plan in Somalia
There is a market.
Airlines do not operate routes because they feel sorry for Somalia. They operate where they see passengers, revenue and commercial opportunity.
And the Somali market is significant.
This should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a threat.
The Somali Passenger Is a Valuable Customer
Consider the Somali diaspora.
Somalis travel for family visits, business, education, medical treatment, religious purposes and work. Thousands of families maintain connections between Somalia and countries across Africa, the Gulf, Turkey, Europe and North America.
Every passenger represents an economic transaction.
The ticket generates revenue for an airline.
The connecting airport benefits from passenger traffic.
Hotels, ground handlers, catering companies, travel agencies and other aviation-related businesses also benefit.
This means that the value of Somali aviation extends far beyond the airport gate.
If a Somali passenger travels from Mogadishu to Istanbul, Addis Ababa, Nairobi or Dubai, a significant portion of the economic value of that journey can be captured outside Somalia.
Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with this.
It is the normal result of international competition.
The question is why Somalia has not developed enough capacity to capture more of that value itself.
Competition Should Be Welcomed—But So Should Somali Competition
Somalia should not close its market to foreign airlines.
That would be counterproductive.
Somali passengers deserve competition, reasonable fares, reliable schedules and safe aircraft.
Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways, EgyptAir, Uganda Airlines, flydubai and other international carriers have an important role in connecting Somalia to the world.
But Somalia should also ask:
Where is the Somali competitor?
The answer cannot simply be that foreign airlines are better established.
They are better established partly because they have had decades to develop their fleets, networks, management systems, professional workforce and financial institutions.
Somalia lost much of that institutional foundation when Somali Airlines ceased operations following the collapse of the state in 1991.
The solution is therefore not to complain about foreign competition.
The solution is to build Somali competitiveness.
The Missing Aviation Ecosystem
A national airline alone will not solve the problem.
Somalia needs an aviation ecosystem capable of supporting competitive Somali companies.
Imagine an aviation sector in which Somali-owned companies provide:
- Passenger airlines.
- Domestic and regional air services.
- Cargo operations.
- Aircraft maintenance and engineering.
- Ground handling.
- Catering.
- Travel and ticketing services.
- Aviation training.
- Pilot and cabin-crew development.
- Aircraft leasing and financing expertise.
- Aviation technology.
- Airport services.
- Logistics.
That would create thousands of skilled jobs and keep a greater share of aviation-related economic activity within Somalia.
The objective should therefore be much larger than simply bringing back the Somali flag on an aircraft.
The objective should be to rebuild the Somali aviation economy.
The Opportunity Is Already Visible
There is evidence that Somalia’s aviation market is growing.
The European Union Agency for Asylum reported that the number of flights using Somali airspace increased substantially following improvements to navigation and technological infrastructure—from approximately 220 daily flights before the upgrades to around 500 by June 2024. It also reported more than 253,000 arrivals and 233,000 departures at Mogadishu International Airport during 2023. {“fallbackMarkdown”:”(European Union Agency for Asylum)”,”reference”:{“matched_text”:””,”prefix”:null,”start_idx”:5772,”end_idx”:5792,”safe_urls”:[“https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/212-mobility-and-accessibility”,”https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/212-mobility-and-accessibility?utm_source=chatgpt.com”],”refs”:[],”alt”:”(European Union Agency for Asylum)”,”prompt_text”:null,”type”:”grouped_webpages”,”error”:null,”items”:[{“title”:”2.1.2. Mobility and accessibility | European Union Agency for Asylum”,”url”:”https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/212-mobility-and-accessibility?utm_source=chatgpt.com”,”attribution”:”European Union Agency for Asylum”,”pub_date”:1746057600,”snippet”:””,”attribution_segments”:null,”supporting_websites”:[],”refs”:[{“turn_index”:0,”ref_type”:”search”,”ref_index”:10}],”hue”:null,”attributions”:null}],”style”:null,”status”:”done”,”fallback_items”:null},”showLoginRequiredCard”:false}
The International Civil Aviation Organization’s 2026 State Action Plan similarly reports sustained growth in aircraft movements after 2022 and says Aden Adde International Airport accounts for approximately 65 percent of Somalia’s domestic and international movements. {“fallbackMarkdown”:”(ICAO)”,”reference”:{“matched_text”:””,”prefix”:null,”start_idx”:6063,”end_idx”:6083,”safe_urls”:[“https://www.icao.int/sites/default/files/sp-files/environmental-protection/Documents/SCAA-State-Action-Plan-Final-version-2026.pdf”,”https://www.icao.int/sites/default/files/sp-files/environmental-protection/Documents/SCAA-State-Action-Plan-Final-version-2026.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com”],”refs”:[],”alt”:”(ICAO)”,”prompt_text”:null,”type”:”grouped_webpages”,”error”:null,”items”:[{“title”:”State Action Plan”,”url”:”https://www.icao.int/sites/default/files/sp-files/environmental-protection/Documents/SCAA-State-Action-Plan-Final-version-2026.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com”,”attribution”:”ICAO”,”pub_date”:1782290858,”snippet”:””,”attribution_segments”:null,”supporting_websites”:[],”refs”:[{“turn_index”:0,”ref_type”:”search”,”ref_index”:22}],”hue”:null,”attributions”:null}],”style”:null,”status”:”done”,”fallback_items”:null},”showLoginRequiredCard”:false}
These numbers should make policymakers think beyond the airport itself.
If traffic continues to grow, Somalia will require more airport capacity, more trained professionals, more air-navigation expertise and more aviation businesses.
Waiting until the market becomes much larger will only make foreign competitors even more established.
Somali Airlines Must Enter a Real Market
This is why the revival of Somali Airlines matters.
A national carrier should not be created simply because every country is expected to have one.
It should be created because Somalia has a market that can potentially support a professionally managed airline.
But Somali Airlines will have to compete.
It will compete with airlines that have larger fleets, established international networks, modern reservation systems, experienced management and strong financial backing.
Therefore, political symbolism will not be enough.
A Somali flag on the tail of an aircraft is important emotionally, but commercial viability is what will keep the aircraft in the sky.
The airline must be professionally managed.
It must be financially transparent.
It must recruit on competence.
It must develop Somali pilots, engineers and aviation managers.
It must use modern revenue-management and ticketing systems.
It must understand its diaspora customers.
And it must offer routes and fares that passengers actually want.
Somalia should not expect passengers to choose Somali Airlines simply because it carries the Somali flag.
Give Somali passengers a Somali airline that is competitive enough that they choose it because it is good.
That is the standard.
From Being a Market to Becoming a Player
For too long, Somalia has been viewed primarily as a market for other people’s businesses.
Foreign airlines see Somali passengers.
Foreign companies see Somali ports.
Foreign operators see Somali airports.
International organisations see Somali airspace.
The question is whether Somalis themselves can become major players in these sectors.
That requires a change in mindset.
Somalia should not be afraid of foreign competition.
It should use that competition as a benchmark.
If Turkish Airlines can operate successfully between Mogadishu and Istanbul, Somalia should ask what it would take for a Somali carrier to establish its own international network.
If Ethiopian Airlines can build a vast regional network, Somalia should study how Ethiopia developed its aviation institutions and determine what lessons can be adapted.
If Gulf airlines can turn their geographic location into a global aviation advantage, Somalia should examine what its own location could support.
The answer is not to copy another country.
The answer is to build Somali institutions capable of taking advantage of Somalia’s own geography.
Somalia already has the passengers, the location and the airspace. Now it needs the capacity to turn those advantages into a competitive national industry.
