Terminal 1A

Domestic flights and older facilities sit on the T1A side

Most locals treat Terminal 1A at Aden Adde (code T1A) as the older wing that takes domestic and short regional runs when it’s operating, separate from the newer T2 and T3 buildings. Daallo Airlines and Jubba Airways are the two airlines tied to this side, so if your ticket shows either of those names plus a regional destination, expect to be sent to T1A at check-in.

Daallo Airlines checks in here for flights within Somalia and nearby points on the Horn, with ground staff often hand‑writing tags at the counters instead of using automated kiosks. You won’t see gate displays like at bigger African hubs; announcements for Daallo flights usually come over a single PA system and staff walk the room calling destinations by city name, so keep one ear open from the moment your printed boarding pass shows “Gate: T1A.”

Jubba Airways also runs domestic and regional traffic through this terminal, including hops to cities like Hargeisa alongside internal Somali routes. Boarding for Jubba flights tends to be via buses or short walks across the apron from ground-level doors in T1A, not jet bridges, and boarding times can shift quickly, so be at the gate area at least 60 minutes before the time printed on your pass.

T1A sits on the older, more cramped side of Aden Adde, and Somali Reddit users regularly call the airport “clogged up” when talking about these legacy halls. Space in front of the check‑in counters is tight compared with the newer builds, so a single full Daallo or Jubba departure can mean shoulder‑to‑shoulder lines stretching 20–30 meters back toward the entrance doors.

Facilities in Terminal 1A are bare‑bones: no catalogued restaurant, lounge, or branded shop inside this side of the field as of 2024, unlike T2 and T3 where newer concessions show up in airport maps. You might see small, informal kiosks selling bottled water and snacks for cash only, but you should not count on card payments or fixed menus, so buying food and SIM cards in town before arriving at MGQ is the safer play.

That separate $9 airport fee mentioned on r/Somalia threads still catches some passengers on departure, and the “chaos in the airport” complaints usually mean scenes at these older counters in T1A. Build a buffer of at least 30–45 minutes on top of normal check‑in time to pay any fees, queue at security, and deal with manual document checks, especially around busy Friday flights.

Security and passport control on the T1A side lean heavily on manual checks, with officers inspecting paper printouts and passports at multiple points between the front door and the gate. Bags go through X‑ray once near the entrance and sometimes again beside the gate, so pack electronics where you can pull them out fast and keep your boarding pass in hand from the first door to the aircraft stairs.

Seating inside the small gate lounge areas of T1A is limited, and chairs can all be taken once two regional departures overlap within the same hour. Plan on standing or leaning against walls if you show up close to departure, and use restroom breaks early; you might share a single basic restroom block with both Daallo and Jubba passengers for an entire bank of flights.

Final tip: if your itinerary touches both T1A and the newer terminals T2 or T3 on the same day, avoid tight self‑connections and keep at least 3 hours between flights in Mogadishu, since walking between buildings, re‑screening, and paying any fees can burn more than 60–90 minutes on a crowded morning.