Foreign Minister in South Sudan speaks directly to reassure international community with damage at Khartoum Airport revealed.
The fighting that has erupted in Sudan is having a knock-on effect in surrounding countries, with the conflict producing an immediate impact on air traffic in the region.
The problems in neigbouring states was seen most starkly in South Sudan, the country that was part of Sudan as recently as 2011, with its airspace closed for a period after the fighting began – Sudan controlling the airspace for both countries since its neighbour gained independence.
But Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in South Sudan, Deng Dau Deng Malek, says his country is now controlling its own airspace, and speaking directly to the international community on Tuesday, he offered assurances that the country’s airspace was safe, and flights in and out of the capital Juba had resumed.
“There are three international airlines flying to Juba that were affected, but they have got their own routing, and they have arrived in Juba,” Dau said. “We have Turkish Airlines, Egypt Air, and Fly Dubai; these were three flights that were affected.”
Dau insisted that the airspace that was affected centred on its northern border with Sudan, and the lower airspace remained unaffected. He added: “There are two routes, the one approaching from Upper Nile, meaning from Malakal as you are coming from Sudan, that route is affected. There is also a route from Eritrea as you cross western Ethiopia; that route is also affected quite slightly, but all the other routes are open.”
At Khartoum Airport, satellite images by Maxar Technologies have revealed the extent of the damage caused by the fighting, the New York Times reporting that 20 aircraft – civilian and military – have been destroyed. One of the airliners has been identified as a Boeing 737 owned by Ukrainian carrier SkyUp.
Fighting in Sudan between paramilitary forces and the country’s army that began in and around Khartoum in recent days, much of it centred on its airport, has progressed beyond the capital – a proposed ceasefire seemingly having little effect. The outbreak of violence followed reports of a strain in the relationship between the military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his number two, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but stability in the newly independent state didn’t last long with events occurring in 2013 that bear strong similarities to those its neighbour is currently enduring – the president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and vice-president, Riek Machar, of South Sudan falling out over claims of an attempted coup, the dispute leading to a period of conflict in the country that lasted five years until a power-sharing agreement was signed in 2018.
