Light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center. The blue field was originally influenced by the flag of the UN but today is said to denote the sky and the neighboring Indian Ocean. The five points of the star represent the five regions in the horn of Africa that are inhabited by Somali people: the former British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland (which together make up Somalia), Djibouti, Ogaden (Ethiopia), and the North East Province (Kenya).

Flag courtesy of the CIA World Factbook

Map courtesy of the CIA World Factbook

Google Earth

Exhumed skeletal remains of victims of the Isaaq genocide found from a mass grave site located in Berbera, Somaliland.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Government

According to Britannica, under the 1979 constitution, amended in 1990, the president and his supporters held the important positions of power, and a People’s Assembly had no real power. The legal system was based largely on Islamic law; an independent judiciary did not exist; and human rights were frequently violated. Only one legal political party, the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party, and various socialist-style mass organizations existed. Following the collapse of the central government in 1991, the constitution was ignored. Various clan-based political coalitions and alliances attempted to establish control throughout the country. In May 1991 one such alliance declared the formation of the independent Republic of Somaliland in the north, and in July 1998 another declared the formation of the autonomous region of Puntland in the northeast. Each formed its own government, although neither is recognized by the international community. Meanwhile, the fragmented, conflict-riven south lay largely in the hands of various clan-based militia groups at war with each other, despite several attempts to end the conflict and form a new government. The last transitional government was the result of the Transitional Federal Charter, promulgated in 2004. It provided for a Transitional Federal Parliament and a Transitional Federal Government, which consisted of a president, a prime minister, and a cabinet called the Council of Ministers. The charter was amended in 2009 to extend the transitional government’s original five-year mandate for another two years and again in 2011 to extend it for one more year. On August 20, 2012, the day that the transitional administration was due to expire, the lower house of a new federal parliament was sworn in; the next month, that body elected a new president for the country.

Civil / National Aviation Authority (CAA/NAA)

The Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA ) is a government agency responsible for the regulation & oversight of aviation safety & security, the provision of airport & air navigation services, and the development & economic oversight of air transport within Somalia.

The civil aviation functions that started with Somalian airspace management have grown on a phase-by-phase basis, to the provision of Air Navigation Services (ANSs) based in Mogadishu by 2018 and then the whole SCAA structure has been re-situated in Mogadishu since 2018.

As of 2019, vast efforts have been exerted towards the re-establishment of SCAA based in Mogadishu followed by the organizational restructuring, redeployment of civil aviation personnel scattered elsewhere, ratification of the civil aviation Act by 2020, the appointment of Somali Diaspora/scholars, formulation of regulatory texts & operational manuals, HR recruitment & training, publicity & advocacy.

The main four divisions under the SCAA are Aviation Regulation & Oversight, Airport Service, Air Navigation Services & Corporate Services.

The Aviation Regulation & Oversight is entitled to oversight, certification & licensing of operators (airlines, airports, AMO, ATO), aviation personnel (pilots, aircraft engineers, flight attendants, dispatchers), equipment (aircraft, simulators), and operational systems. The airport & air navigation wing of SCAA is responsible for the provision of airport & air navigation services respectively while the corporate service discharges administration & logistics support to line functions of the SCAA.

Airspace

SkyVector – Google Maps – ADS-B Exchange

ICAO countries publish an Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP). This document is divided into three parts: General (GEN), En Route (ENR) and Aerodromes (AD). ENR 1.4 details the types of airspace classes they chose to adopt from classes A through G. Somalia eAIP

Drone Regulations

Currently, there is no legal framework for the use of drones.

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)

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