Asmara International Airport

The airport was constructed by the Italian colonial authorities in 1922, the first such facility to be opened in Italian Eritrea with the name "Aeroporto di Gura". It served as the main military airport in the territory. In the mid-1930s, the airport (enlarged and now called Aeroporto Civile di Asmara-Umberto Maddalena{{cite book |author=Tecle-Misghina |first=Belula |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ebqZBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |title=Asmara – an urban history: Rivista L'architettura delle città – UNESCO Chair Series n. 1 |publisher=Edizioni Nuova Cultura |year=2015 |isbn=978-88-6812-354-3 |page=9}}) began offering civilian and commercial flights.

On 7 July 1935, an agreement was signed with British "Imperial Airways" to connect Asmara to Khartoum. A regular Kassala-Khartoum-Asmara-Massawa 770 km commercial route was subsequently started with a Caproni 133 of the Italian Ala Littoria.{{cite web |last=Riccitelli (A.I.D.A.) |first=Flavio |title=ALA LITTORIA S.A. (1934–1941) |url=http://www.ilpostalista.it/unico2004pag55.htm |access-date=7 October 2013 |publisher=Il Postalista |language=it}}

Additionally, a regular Asmara-Assab- Mogadishu commercial route was started in summer 1935, with an Ala Littoria's Caproni Ca.133 providing 13-hour flights from the Mogadishu airport to Italian Eritrea. The aircraft had a maximal capacity of 18 passengers, which at the time was a record.

In 1936, Ala Littoria launched an intercontinental connection -called "Linea dell'Impero"- between Mogadishu-Asmara-Khartoum-Tripoli and Rome. The voyage lasted four days and was one of the first long range flights in the world.

During World War II, the airport was nearly destroyed by the British. It was later renovated in the 1950s, and reopened to offer flights to Addis Ababa and other cities in Ethiopia. With Eritrea's independence in the 1990s, the airport became an international portal to the new nation.

During the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, the airport was bombed two times by Ethiopia in 1998{{Cite news |date=1998-06-06 |title=Ethiopia and Eritrea step up bombing raids |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ethiopia-and-eritrea-step-up-bombing-raids-1.160507 |access-date=2019-02-08 |newspaper=The Irish Times}} and 2000.{{Cite news |date=2000-05-29 |title=Ethiopia hits Asmara airport |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/768324.stm |access-date=2019-02-08 |work=BBC News}} In April 2003, after improvements to the airport's runways, Eritrean Airlines started regular services between Asmara and Frankfurt, Milan, Nairobi and Rome. In 2004, it served 136,526 passengers (+11.8% vs. 2003).

In October 2013, Lufthansa, which was considered the premier foreign airline in Asmara, suspended service to Frankfurt via Jeddah.{{cite news | url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/lufthansa-stops-flights-eritrea-080255522.html | title=Lufthansa stops flights to Eritrea | work=Yahoo! News | date=30 October 2013 | agency=Reuters | accessdate=4 August 2024}}{{cite web | url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/227167.pdf | title=2014 Investment Climate Statement: Eritrea | work=United States Department of State | date=June 2014 | accessdate=4 August 2024 | p=6}} A representative said Germany and Eritrea had to reach a new air transport agreement. According to the United States Department of State, the flight was suspended because Lufthansa had a large amount of unconvertible nakfa in Eritrea. The airline decided to terminate the service in 2014.

In 2018, after renewed relations with Ethiopia, the airport started accepting flights from Addis Ababa for the first time since the war. In July 2024, the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority ordered Ethiopian Airlines to suspend flights to Eritrea by September, citing "consistent and persistent malicious trading practices [and] systemic and organized passengers' luggage theft, pilferage, damage prolonged delays, and loss with no compensation in particular, coupled with unjustified and unwarranted price hikes and other irregularities witnessed." as the reasons.{{cite news |date=2024-07-25 |title=Eritrea to suspend all Ethiopian Airlines flights from September 30 |url=https://www.africanews.com/2024/07/25/eritrea-to-suspend-all-ethiopian-airlines-flights-from-september-30// |access-date=2024-08-16 |work=Africanews}}

The airport has capacity restrictions due to its small terminal, short runway and high 2300 m altitude. Lufthansa operated Airbus A340 aircraft on a FRA-JED-ASM service as recently as 2012.

The airport is also an Eritrean Air Force base.

{{Airport-dest-list

|Egyptair|Cairo

|{{nowrap|Ethiopian Airlines}}|Addis Ababa (suspended){{cite web|url=https://allafrica.com/stories/202407240411.html|title=Ethiopia: Eritrea Notifies Ethiopian Airlines of Flight Suspensions|access-date=24 July 2024}}

|Flydubai|Dubai–International{{cite web|url=http://www.flydubai.com/en/news/article/flydubai-announces-flights-to-eritreas-capital-asmara/|title=flydubai announces flights to Eritrea's capital Asmara|access-date=18 October 2018}}

|Flynas|Jeddah{{Cite web|url=https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231128-xy1q24asm|title=Flynas Adds Asmara From Jan 2024|website=AeroRoutes|access-date=28 November 2023}}

|Turkish Airlines|Istanbul}}

{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}

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{{Airports in Eritrea}}

{{Eritrea italiana (Colonia Primigenia)}}

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Category:Airports in Eritrea

Category:Buildings and structures in Asmara

Category:World War II airfields in Italian Eritrea

Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in Central and South Africa

Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces

Category:Airports established in 1922

Category:Italian Eritrea

Category:Modernist architecture in Eritrea