The airport sits at an elevation of 1,187 metres (3,894 ft) above mean sea level. Its only runway, designated 03/21, has an asphalt concrete surface and measures 2,800 by 45 metres (9,186 ft × 148 ft).[1]
In October 2011 it was confirmed that the U.S. Seventeenth Air Force was operating General Atomics MQ-9A Reaperunmanned aerial vehicles from the airport for reconnaissance over Somalia.[5]Master Sergeant James Fisher, spokesman for the 17th Air Force, said that an unspecified number of Air Force personnel were working at the Ethiopian airfield “to provide operation and technical support for our security assistance programs.” He also said that the drone flights “will continue as long as the government of Ethiopia welcomes our cooperation on these varied security programs.”[5] The United States military has spent millions of dollars upgrading the airbase to handle the Reapers, and is being used to surveil al-Shabab, but will not conduct airstrikes from the base.[6] However, according to OSGEOINT, mapped imagery of the MQ-9A ranges may also suggest mission support to other countries outside of Somalia.[7]
The US Air Force operations at the base closed down in January 2016.[8][9]
