Khartoum airport receives its first regular flight since the start of the war in Sudan | War in Sudan News

Celebrations as flight carries dozens of passengers from Port Sudan to the Sudanese capital.

Khartoum International Airport received its first scheduled commercial flight in more than two years as the Sudanese government continues to assert its control over the Sudanese capital after years of fighting.

The Sudan Airways flight flew to Khartoum from the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on Sunday, carrying dozens of passengers.

Near the airstrip where the plane landed, Al Jazeera’s Taher Almardi described the jubilant scenes that followed the plane’s arrival.

He said the reopening of the airport would help connect the capital to other parts of Sudan, with officials saying the facility was now ready to accommodate up to four daily flights.

Soudan Airways said in a statement that the flight, announced Saturday with ticket prices starting at $50, “reflects the return of spirit and the continuation of the bond between the sons of the nation.”

The Sudanese army announced that it had resumed total control from the capital by its rival, the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in March last year.

Last month, Sudanese authorities aligned with the army decided the seat of government return to Khartoum from their wartime capital, Port Sudan, which has also been home to the country’s international airport since the early days of the war which began in April 2023.

Khartoum international airport has been the target of repeated attacks, including that of RSF. drone assault in October, which Sudanese authorities said had been intercepted.

On October 22, the airport announced that it had received a flight from Badr Airlines, which had not been previously announced. But no other commercial flight operations resumed until Sunday.

The war began when two high-ranking generals – Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army chief, and Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, the RSF leader – and their forces clashed for power and control of Sudan’s resources.

Fighting has ravaged towns and villages across Sudan, killing tens of thousands of people and forcing millions more from their homes.

Violence continues to rage in central and western Sudan, particularly in Darfur, where the war has led to mass displacement and a humanitarian crisis.

“In Darfur today, reaching a single child can take days of negotiations, security clearances and travel across sand roads under shifting front lines,” Eva Hinds, spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said in a statement on Friday.

“Nothing about this crisis is simple: every movement is hard-won, every achievement is fragile. »