Assab International Airport
airport
Assab International Airport (IATA: ASA, ICAO: HHSB) is an international airport in Assab, the capital of the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea.
Characteristics
It serves as a dual public and military facility. The airport has an 11,531 ft (3,515 m) asphalt runway. It currently receives no regular scheduled airline flights.
History
The airport was created during the colonial era of Italian Eritrea in the late 1930s, as a secondary airport of military support in the region.
Damaged during World War II, for years it has been used only for private and military flights.
In 2017 there it is a civilian weekly flight between Assab and Massawa International Airport. As of November 2018 Eritrean Airlines is planning to start routes to Asmara, and Addis Ababa.
Starting in September 2015, United Arab Emirates armed forces upgraded the airbase to host its military forces to support its intervention in Yemen, with a partial withdraw starting in 2021.
The public source identifies “Assab International Airport” as airport. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Assab, International and Airport.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Assab International Airport”, the useful work is to connect “airport” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q607789. VIAF identifies the subject as 150271397. The Library of Congress control number is n97109523. Authority coordinates are 13.072, 42.645. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2017, 2018, 2015 and 2021.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Assab International Airport”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Assab International Airport primary sources, Assab International Airport archive and Assab research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Assab International Airport”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Assab International Airport” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.