Bosaso Airport  Bosaso Airport , also known as Bender Qassim International Airport, is an airport in Somalia. It sits at 11°16′32″N 49°9′0″E on the outer edge of the city of Bosaso, the commercial capital of the northeastern Puntland macro-region and adjacent to the Gulf of Aden. It is the fourth largest airport in the country after the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, the Hargeisa International Airport in Hargeisa and the Berbera Airport in Berbera. Construction of the Bender Qassim International Airport started in 2007. Funds for the project were initially supplied by United Arab Emirates-based financiers. In 2008, the Puntland government signed a multi-million US dollar deal with Dubai's Lootah Group, a regional industrial organization operating in the Middle East and Africa. According to the agreement, the first phase of the investment is worth Dhs 170m and would see a set of new companies established to operate, manage and build Bosaso's free trade zone and sea and airport facilities. The Bosaso Airport Company was also slated to develop the airport complex to meet international standards, including a new 3.4 km runway, main and auxiliary buildings, taxi and apron areas, and security perimeters. Following the 2008 Puntland presidential elections, airport renovations came to a standstill as greater focus was placed on activities in the regional capital of Garowe. In 2012, a Product-Sharing Agreement signed between the Puntland government and the Australian oil company Range Resources earmarked $5 million USD for the construction of an airport runway. Renovations subsequently resumed, with a bricklaying ceremony for the new runway held in November of the year at the Bender Qassim International Airport. The event was attended by various Puntland government officials and businesspeople, including Bosaso Mayor Hassan Abdallah Hassan, Bari region Governor Abdisamad Gallan, and Ministry of Aviation official Saida Hussein Ali. In late September 2013, a launching ceremony of tender process for the Bosaso airport's renovations was held at the facility. The event was attended by Puntland government and aviation officials as well as representatives of around 20 international companies, with over 24 firms vying for the project. The tender is slated to be closed in mid-October. According to Puntland Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation Abdiqani Gelle, the winner of the tender process is then scheduled to mobilize its operation within a two-month period.