Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport
Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport
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.
Location
13.467°N, 39.534°E · 2.254 m s. n. m. (7.396 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 2
Tower
Ground
Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.
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. Ethiopian Airlines suspended its flights to Mekelle, as well as to Shire and Axum, citing the situation in the Tigray Region.
Airlines operating here · 1
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: Simon Temple · Public domain · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX). Retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MQX
MLA
“Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MQX. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MQX.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MQX (Accessed: 19 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_mqx,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MQX},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MQX}},
urldate = {2026-10-19},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-19}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MQX |title=Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-19 |language=en}}