An impression of the modernized Gombe International Airport issued by architects and engineers Giyont Kuba Ltd.
Gombe International Airport, northeast Nigeria, is to be expanded and improved, as the facility is tipped to help host a planned new regional airline.
Gombe, some 425km/230nm northeast of the federal capital Abuja, has been open since 2008, but has received relatively little maintenance or updating since then, according to local media reports. This has resulted in many facilities slowly fading into obsolescence.
December 31 2025 saw Gombe State commissioner for works, housing and transport, Maijama’a Kallamu, announce that the state’s Federal Council had approved plans to refurbish and upgrade the airport, according to multiple local media outlets. Renovation of existing buildings and the construction of a new administrative block will be undertaken, together with other, unspecified upgrades that will return the airport to international standards.
The airport has a 10,800 ft. / 3,300m main runway capable of taking aircraft as large as Boeing 747-400s, which are employed to take pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj.
More typically, however, narrow-body aircraft and small narrow-body jets, such as Overland Airways’ Embraer 175, along with executive jets, are the primary users.
However, plans by Gombe State, together with five other states in northeast Nigeria, to set up their own regional carrier, are likely to see an increase in traffic, if the project reaches fruition. The six states are each contributing 5 billion naira ($21 million) to purchase an initial two aircraft. Type and timelines for the project have not yet been confirmed.
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