Sudan Airways

Sudan Airways is the national airline of Sudan, headquartered in Khartoum. Since 2012, the company has been fully owned by the Government of Sudan.

One of the oldest African carriers, it was formed in February 1946 and started scheduled operations in July the following year. As of December 2011, Sudan Airways had 1,700 employees. The airline has been included in the list of air carriers banned in the European Union since March 2010.

History

An Air Advisory Board was formed in 1945 to assess on the feasibility of starting air services in the country, recommending to set up an air company with the aid of foreign carriers that would provide their technical and management expertise. Initially, the new airline would restrict its operations to on-demand services. Sudan Airways was formed in February 1946 with the technical assistance of Airwork Limited, and the commercial support of Sudan Railways.

The initial fleet was composed of four de Havilland Doves, with test flights commencing in April 1947. The first scheduled operations were launched in July the same year, with the first timetable being published in September. Khartoum became Sudan Airways' hub from the very beginning. From there, the carrier started flying four different services all across the Sudanese territory, as well as to the not yet independent Eritrea. The first routes the company flew linked Khartoum with Asmara, Atbara, El Fashir, El Obeid, Geneina, Juba, Kassala, Malakal, and Port Sudan, all of them served by de Havilland Dove aircraft. An Airwork Viking flew the Blackbushe–Khartoum long-haul route. A fifth Dove was ordered in January 1948. That year, a route to Wadi Halfa was launched. Sudan Railways withdrew from the airline's management in 1949; the government and Airwork continued running the company thereafter.

Kassala and Asmara were removed from the airline list of destinations in 1952. In February that year, a fifth Dove was phased in. There was such a demand for flying that the toilets on the Doves were removed to make room for more seats, with these aircraft even carrying passengers in the cockpit. This prompted the airline to look for newer and bigger airliners, with the Douglas DC-3 and the de Havilland Heron being under consideration. Flown with Austers and Doves, by March 1953 the carrier was operating a domestic network that was 3000 mi long. That year, the carrier incorporated the first four DC-3s into the fleet. The boost in capacity allowed the company to carry both passengers and mail, to introduce new regular routes to Cairo and Wad Medani, and to carry out aerial survey tasks for the government. Also in 1953, the Chadian city of Abeche was made part of the route network, whereas regular flights to Jeddah were launched in June 1954. Services to Athens commenced in the mid-1950s. Two more DC-3s were bought in 1956. In 1958, after taking office, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decided to expand the carrier's international operations. A seventh DC-3 was incorporated into the fleet that year. Long-haul services started in June 1959 between Khartoum and London via Rome –the so-called "Blue Nile" service– using a Viscount 831 that was acquired new earlier that year in a joint venture with British United Airways. Beirut was added to the destination network in November the same year. Also in 1959, the airline joined IATA.

By April 1960, the fleet included seven DC-3s, four Doves, and a Viscount 831. The latter aircraft was used to resume operations to Asmara in December 1960. Aimed at replacing the DC-3s and the Doves in domestic and regional routes, the airline acquired three Fokker F27s in October that year; these were delivered in early 1962, with the first of them being deployed on domestic routes, making Sudan Airways the first African airline in operating the type. Also in 1962, two Comet 4Cs were bought in May, intended as a replacement of the Viscount service; Sudan Airways had considered the acquisition of two jets for deployment on the ″Blue Nile″ route since the frequency on the service was increased to twice weekly in 1961. The airline took delivery of the first Comet in November 1962, and the second aircraft of the type was delivered a month later. Comets commenced flying the ″Blue Nile″ service in January 1963; that year, the frequency was again increased to operate three times a week. The ″Blue Nile″ service first served Frankfurt in May 1963. Also in 1963, a fourth Friendship was ordered. In 1967, the company became a corporation run on a commercial basis; also, three Twin Otters were ordered as a replacement for the DC-3s. The first of these aircraft joined the fleet in 1968; the second aircraft of the type delivered to the company was the produced by de Havilland Canada.

By March 1970, the route network totaled 12872 mi, with international destinations including Aden, Addis Ababa, Asmara, Athens, Beirut, Cairo, Entebbe, Fort Lamy, Jeddah, London, Nairobi and Rome. At this time, the fleet was composed of two Comet 4Cs, three DC-3s, four F-27s and three Twin Otters. The last passenger DC-3 left the fleet in 1971. In 1972, the Comets were put on sale and were replaced by two Boeing 707s leased from British Midland. Sudan Airways ordered two Boeing 707-320Cs in 1973, for delivery in June and July 1974. Pending delivery of two Boeing 737-200Cs ordered a year earlier, the two Boeing 707-320Cs were part of the fleet by March 1975, along with five F-27s, three Twin Otters, and a single DC-3.

The company had 2,362 employees at April 2000, with an aircraft park that included one Airbus A300-600, one Airbus A300-600R, three Boeing 707-320Cs, one Boeing 727-200, one Boeing 737-200C and one Fokker F27-600. By this time, the airline provided scheduled services to Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa, Al Ain, Amman, Bangui, Cairo, Damascus, Doha, Dongola, Dubai, El Fasher, El Obeid, Al Dabbah, Geneina, Istanbul, Jeddah, Juba, Kano, Lagos, London, Malakal, Merowe, Muscat, Ndjamena, Niamey, Nyala, Paris, Port Sudan, Riyadh, Sanaa, Sharjah, Tripoli, Wadi Halfa and Wau. In 2007, the Sudanese government privatised the airline, maintaining only a 30% stake of the national carrier.[1] The Kuwaiti private group that owned 49% of the shares since then sold its stake back to the state in 2011.

In the wake of the crash of Flight 109, in June 2008 the airline was grounded following an indefinite suspension of its operating certificate by the Sudanese government, despite the fact that it was stated as not being in connection with the accident. This decision was later rolled back, and the company was allowed to resume operations.

In 2017, it was announced that the Sudanese President Omar al Bashir signed several cooperation agreements with King Salman of Saudi Arabia during a visit to Riyadh. Among the agreements was a pledge from the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation to restructure SAR22.5 million riyals (US$6 million) worth of debt. In addition, provisions for fleet renewal at Sudan Airways were also made. It was reported Saudi Arabia may equip the Sudan Airways with fourteen aircraft including three B777s, three A320-200s, six Embraer Regional Jets, and two A330-200s.[2]

Following the lifting of American sanctions in 2017, Sudan Airways announced plans to revive its fleet.[3]

Corporate affairs

Destinations

Following is a list of destinations served by Sudan Airways, as of February 2023.[7] Terminated destinations are also shown.

Fleet

Accidents and incidents

According to Aviation Safety Network, as of December 2011 Sudan Airways records 21 accidents/incidents, 7 of them leading to fatalities.[23] The worst accident experienced by the company took place in July 2003 near Port Sudan, when 117 people lost their lives on an emergency landing. All events included in the list below carried with the hull-loss of the aircraft involved.

See also

• Transport in Sudan
• List of airlines of Sudan

Bibliography

External links