Somalia’s airspace has regained its Class A rating after more than 30 years, the International Air Transport Association said.
IATA confirmed the airspace reclassification of the Mogadishu Flight Information Region in a statement on Wednesday. Class A airspace is the sky above the base altitude of about 24,500 feet (7,467 meters) above mean sea level, according to IATA.
In it, all flights must be cleared by air traffic control, responsible for maintaining the correct separation between aircraft, which required the FIR of Mogadishu to install new equipment.
IATA said the move will significantly improve security in the region and increase efficiency.
The reclassification of Somali airspace to Class A took effect at 00:01 local time on Thursday (16:01 EST), Somali authorities said.
Uncontrolled airspace for decades
The collapse of the state in Somalia in 1991 ended the country’s control over its airspace. This control was carried out in Nairobi, in neighboring Kenya, from 1992 until June 2018, when the Somali government transferred airspace management to Mogadishu. Somalia’s airspace has been classified as Class G, or uncontrolled airspace, for decades.
The Somali government welcomed the reclassification.
“It’s a good new. We will be celebrating,” said Ahmed Moallin Hassan, director general of the Somali Civil Aviation Authority.
Asked what the airspace reclassification means for Somalia, Hassan said the Civil Aviation Authority will provide more services to pilots.
He said that under the Class G airspace designation, the aviation authority has been providing advisory services to pilots.
“But now that the class of airspace has changed from uncontrolled to controlled airspace, the service we provide has changed to air traffic control services. Now we will be instructing the pilots and we will use words like up, down, clear for landing, clear for take off,” he said.
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