Qatar Airways ‘Temporarily Suspends’ All Flights to Sudan

On Thursday, 14 March, Qatar Airways announced that all its flights to and from Khartoum, Sudan will be temporarily suspended effective 1 April 2019 until further notice. 

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— QatarAirways Support (@qrsupport) 14 March 2019

This comes shortly after Qatar Airways announced reducing flights to Sudan. Qatar Airways released an official statement in January 2019, stating:

‘Due to commercial reasons, we regret to inform our partners and customers that Qatar Airways has suspended ticketing authority in the Sudan market. Please note that on 3 February 2019, the flight frequencies will decrease to five flights weekly, and starting 1 March, decrease to three flights weekly.’

Prior to recent changes, Qatar Airways flew daily to Sudan. In addition, on 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a historic land, maritime and air blockade on Qatar. As a result, Qatar Airways, which accommodated three flights per day to Sudan, reduced flight frequency to one daily. Prior to the Qatar blockade, flights to and from Qatar and Sudan were approximately three to four hours long but after the Qatar blockade, flights became six hours long.

Qatar is home to at least 50,000 Sudanese citizens. Sudanese and other residents of Qatar planning to travel to Sudan will have to travel via Ethiopia, Oman, Kuwait or Turkey. Due to the Qatar blockade, they will not be able to travel via Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain or Egypt.

Royal Jordanian Airlines has also suspended all flights to Sudan. The ongoing cash shortage and hyperinflation in Sudan has prompted several international airlines to either reduce flights to Sudan or suspend ticketing authority in the Sudan market. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways now only take online bookings for tickets in Sudan because of Sudan Civil Aviation Authority’s requiring all travel agencies and ticketing authorities in Sudan to sell tickets only in Sudanese pounds (SDG), not in US dollars (USD).

Since December 2018, Sudan has experienced ongoing anti-government protests across the country. At least 50 have been killed in clashes with riot police, at least 1,000 arrested and several others injured.