Scheduled domestic flights to Khartoum airport resumes after a hiatus of more than two years due to the war.

• A passenger flight on Sunday landed at Khartoum International Airport for the first time since the war between the army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted in April 2023.
• Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority said a flight operated by its national carrier, Sudan Airways, arrived from the Red Sea city of Port Sudan at Khartoum airport, "carrying passengers and marking the resumption of airport operations after a period of suspension due to the war".
• The Khartoum International Airport sustained heavy damage during Sudan's ongoing conflict and was among the first locations attacked by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) when fighting erupted in 2023.
• Authorities have worked to restore airport operations after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) regained full control of Khartoum State in May last year.

A commercial flight (first scheduled commercial flight) landed in the Sudanese capital Sunday for the second time since a devastating conflict broke out in the northeastern African country nearly three years ago.

According to the state-run SUNA news agency, the aircraft, operated by national flag carrier SUDANAIR and carrying 160 passengers, landed at the Khartoum International Airport Sunday afternoon.

The flight took off Sunday morning from the eastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan, which had served as an interim seat for the government until the administration moved back to Khartoum earlier this year.

Sir Al-Khatim Babiker Al-Tayeb, director general of the Sudan Airports Company, said in a statement that the airport has resumed operations with sufficient capacity for the current phase and can handle up to four aircraft at the same time.

That move could significantly change air traffic in the country after years of being limited to a few number of carriers and the reopening of the Khartoum International Airport was a crucial step in the government’s efforts to normalise life in the capital, which has been wrecked during the ongoing war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Today’s flight was the second commercial flight to arrive in Khartoum since an unscheduled flight operated by the privately owned Badr Airlines landed in the airport in October last year.

At that time drones were launched at the airport to disrupt Sudanese government's efforts to reopen the facility. Sudan miliary retook Khartoum from the RSF earlier last year.

Back in April 2023, when a power struggle between Sudan's military and the RSF transformed into a conflict in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country, the airport was severely damaged in the first weeks of unrest.

The closure of Khartoum International Airport, Sudan’s main aviation hub, severely disrupted air travel nationwide due to its central location and large capacity.

At this moment, Port Sudan International Airport remains the country's only hub for international flights, while several other domestic airports are operating on a limited basis.

In the near future, other International carriers could resume flights to Khartoum, including four Egyptian carriers, EgyptAir, Nile Air, Al Alamiya and Air Arabia, and three Saudi carriers, Saudia, flynas and flyadeal.