Masslo Airport

The airport was most likely closed due to a combination of economic factors and obsolescence. As a small, unpaved, and remote airstrip, it would have been built for a specific purpose (e.g., humanitarian aid, government administration, or security operations in a remote area). The closure likely occurred after this specific need ended, making the cost of maintenance unviable. There is no evidence to suggest it was closed due to a major accident or a formal military conversion.

As of the latest satellite imagery, the site is an abandoned and derelict airstrip. The faint outline of a single dirt or gravel runway is still visible, but it is heavily overgrown with grass and shrubs and is completely unusable for aircraft. There are no buildings, hangars, or any other aviation infrastructure remaining on the site. The land is effectively reverting to its natural state.

Masslo Airport was a minor, unimproved airstrip and never served commercial passenger traffic. Its historical significance is purely local. Given its remote location in the Oromia Region near the Somali border—an area that has historically faced challenges with accessibility, drought, and conflict—the airstrip was almost certainly used for logistical support. Operations would have included flights for government administrative purposes, military or police patrols, and/or humanitarian missions by NGOs delivering food, medical supplies, and personnel. It served as a basic but vital link to an otherwise hard-to-reach area before it fell into disuse.

There are no known or publicly announced plans to reopen Masslo Airport. The reactivation of such a small and remote airstrip would require a significant new strategic or economic driver, such as a major resource discovery, a large-scale development project, or a renewed, long-term humanitarian crisis in the immediate vicinity. Currently, Ethiopian aviation development focuses on larger regional and international airports, making the prospect of reopening Masslo extremely unlikely.