KHARTOUM, Sudan: Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority has announced that Khartoum International Airport will reopen for domestic flights starting Wednesday, ending a 30-month shutdown caused by the ongoing conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The move follows extensive operational and security preparations and signals a gradual return to limited air connectivity in the war-torn capital.
“The Civil Aviation Authority issued a notice announcing the resumption of domestic flights at Khartoum International Airport beginning Wednesday, Oct. 22, in accordance with approved operational procedures,” the official news agency SUNA said.
The decision confirms the airport’s readiness to gradually receive flights after completing technical and operational arrangements, the agency added.
According to Anadolu news agency this marks the first time Khartoum International Airport has resumed operations in more than two and a half years amid the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The army and RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.
On March 27, the Sudanese army said its forces had cleared the last RSF strongholds in Khartoum province after regaining control of the airport, several security and military facilities, and neighborhoods in the capital’s east and south for the first time since April 2023.
