Hiiraan Online
Wednesday March 28, 2018
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali government on Wednesday relocated 34 air control personnel to Somali capital, Mogadishu after operating outside the country more than 24 years.
The staff who were working at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)'s Flight Information Service of Somalia (FISS) centre in Nairobi were transferred to Mogadishu.
The Somali Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Mohamed Abdullahi Salad Omar said Somali government successfully moved the personnel from ICAO's centre in Nairobi to Mogadishu.
The Minister underscored that the country would be capable of controlling its airspace in Mogadishu.
" Today, We have relocated the personnel who have been controlling Somalia's airspace. The staff have been operating in Nairobi, Kenya since 1993," Omar said.
Prior to the collapse of Somalia's central government led by late Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991, the country effectively and efficiently managed and controlled its airspace and was able to collect overfly charges. When the country plunged into civil war, Somalia lost millions of dollars as there was no credible oversight organization despite ICAO operations to control the air traffic over Somalia.
The Somali government officially took control of its airspace last year from the International Civil Aviation Organisation which was controlling the country's airspace since 1993.