Somaliland Steps Up Legal Push for Control of Its Airspace
MINNEAPOLIS — September 28, 2026
Somaliland is intensifying its campaign to gain control of the commercial airspace over the territory it administers, with Aviation and Airports Development Minister Fu’ad Ahmed Nuh leading a legal and diplomatic effort challenging Somalia’s management of the skies.
Earlier this year, Nuh said Somaliland had initiated an international challenge over the airspace dispute. Reporting in March said Somaliland had filed a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, arguing that Somalia should not administer airspace over territory where Somaliland authorities operate major airports, including Hargeisa and Berbera.
The dispute is part of a broader disagreement between Hargeisa and Mogadishu over aviation authority. Somaliland operates airports within the territory it controls, while Somalia maintains authority over the wider internationally recognized airspace framework.
Nuh has also been at the center of Somaliland’s challenge to Somalia’s electronic visa system. Somaliland’s aviation ministry has maintained that travelers arriving at airports under its jurisdiction can obtain visas on arrival and that electronic travel authorizations issued by outside authorities are not valid for entry into Somaliland.
The airspace campaign marks one of Somaliland’s most significant efforts in recent years to move the dispute beyond political declarations and into international legal, diplomatic and aviation channels. Nuh has said Somaliland is pursuing legal avenues, while his ministry has also been involved in efforts to strengthen the territory’s aviation infrastructure and airspace-management capabilities.
I recently had the opportunity to meet Minister Fu’ad Ahmed Nuh during his visit to Minneapolis. In my conversation with him, he told me that he intends to return to Washington D.C to continue following up on the airspace case. My impression from that meeting was of a relatively young and determined minister who has made the issue a major priority and is investing considerable effort in advancing Somaliland’s position.
But determination alone will not decide the outcome. Somaliland’s effort faces complicated legal, diplomatic and international aviation questions, and the dispute with Somalia remains unresolved. Nuh and his government are making their case, but whether that campaign ultimately results in Somaliland gaining internationally accepted control of its airspace remains an open question. For now, the legal and diplomatic push continues — and the outcome will depend on what happens in the institutions and negotiations ahead.
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