Alula Aba Nega Airport
airport in Ethiopia
Alula Aba Nega Airport (IATA: MQX, ICAO: HAMK), also known as Mekelle Airport, is a public airport serving Mekelle, the capital city of the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia. The airport is located 10 km (6 miles) southeast of the city. In September 2026, Tigrayan forces reportedly seized control of the airport, and Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to the city.
History
This airport was built in the late 1990s, to replace an older one located 7 km (4 miles) from Mekelle. The airport was named after the 19th century Ethiopian military leader Ras Alula, also known as Alula Aba Nega. He is well known for his battles against Italy, the Ottoman Turks, Egypt and the Battle of Adwa. When the airport first opened, it had one unpaved runway that was 3,000 metres (9,843 feet) long, with 21 flights to Addis Ababa, 4 to Shire and 2 to Humera.
2026 seizure
On the night of 22 to 23 September 2026, Tigrayan forces reportedly took control of the airport from federal police, according to local sources cited by Reuters. The takeover came amid deteriorating relations between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which had fought the Tigray War against the federal government before the two sides signed the Pretoria Agreement in November 2022. It followed an announcement days earlier by the TPLF and six other armed groups that they had formed an alliance seeking to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The public source identifies “Alula Aba Nega Airport” as airport in Ethiopia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Alula, Nega and Airport.
Why this record matters
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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 Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4737322. Authority coordinates are 13.467, 39.533. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2026 and 2022.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alula Aba Nega 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.