Rwanda airline and Sudan airline

Sudan Airways (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية السودانية‎) is the national airline of Sudan,[1] headquartered in Khartoum. As of October 2012, the company is fully owned by the Government of Sudan.[2]

The carrier, one of the oldest African ones,[1] was formed in February 1946 and started scheduled operations in July the following year. It is a member of the International Air Transport Association, of the Arab Air Carriers Organization since 1965,[3] and of the African Airlines Association since 1968, becoming a founding member along with another ten companies.[4][nb 1] As of December 2011, Sudan Airways had 1,700 employees.[6] The airline has been included in the list of airlines banned in the EU since March 2010.

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.[7] Sudan Airways was formed in February 1946 with the technical assistance of Airwork Limited, and the commercial support of Sudan Railways.[8]:89 The initial fleet was composed of four de Havilland Doves, with test flights commencing in April 1947.[7] The first scheduled operations were launched in July the same year,[8]:90 with the first ti####ble being published in September.[7] 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 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 with de Havilland Dove equipment.[8]:90 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.[7]


Sudan Airways Douglas C-47B in 1971
Kassala and Asmara were removed from the airline‍‍ '​‍s 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.[7] Flown with Austers and Doves, by March 1953 the carrier was operating a domestic network that was 4,800 kilometres (3,000 mi) long.[9] That year, the carrier incorporated the first four DC-3s into the fleet.[7] The boost in capacity allowed the company to carry both passengers and mail, to introduce new regular routes to Cairo and Wad Medani,[8]:91 and to carry out aerial survey tasks for the government.[7] 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.[10] Services to Athens commenced in the mid-1950s. Two more DC-3s were bought in 1956.[10] In 1958, after taking office, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decided to expand the carrier's international operations.[8]:91 A seventh DC-3 was incorporated into the fleet that year.[10] Long-haul services started in June 1959 between Khartoum and London via Rome –the so-called "Blue Nile" service[11]– using a Viscount 831 that was acquired new earlier that year in a joint venture with British United Airways.[8]:91 Beirut was added to the destination network in November the same year.[10] Also in 1959, the airline joined IATA.[12]


A Sudan Airways Comet 4C at London Heathrow Airport in 1972. The airline took delivery of the first aircraft of the type in November 1962.[13]
By April 1960, the fleet included seven DC-3s, four Doves, and a Viscount 831.[14] The latter aircraft was used to resume operations to Asmara in December 1960.[10] Aimed at replacing the DC-3s and the Doves in domestic and regional routes,[8]:91[15] the airline acquired three Fokker F27s in October that year;[10] these were delivered in early 1962,[16] with the first of them being deployed on domestic routes, making Sudan Airways the first African airline in operating the type.[10] Also in 1962, two Comet 4Cs were bought in May,[11] intended as a replacement of the Viscount service;[17] 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.[10] The airline took delivery of the first Comet in November 1962,[13] and the second aircraft of the type was delivered a month later.[10] 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.[10] Also in 1963, a fourth Friendship was ordered.[18] In 1967, the company became a corporation run on a commercial basis;[19]:770 also, three Twin Otters were ordered as a replacement for the DC-3s.[10] The first of these aircraft joined the fleet in 1968;[19]:770 the second aircraft of the type delivered to the company was the 100th produced by de Havilland Canada.[20]


A Sudan Airways Boeing 707-320C on final approach to Sharjah International Airport in 2006. As part of an order that had been placed in 1973 including two aircraft of the type,[21] the pictured aircraft, registered ST-AFA, entered the fleet in 1974.[10]
By March 1970, the route network totalled 20,715 kilometres (12,872 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.[22] The last passenger DC-3 left the fleet in 1971.[23] In 1972, the Comets were put on sale and were replaced by two Boeing 707s leased from British Midland.[10][21][24] Sudan Airways ordered two Boeing 707-320Cs in 1973, for delivery in June and July 1974.[21] Pending delivery of two Boeing 737-200Cs ordered a year earlier,[25] 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.[26]

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, Eldebba, Geneina, Istanbul, Jeddah, Juba, Kano, Lagos, London, Malakal, Merowe, Muscat, Ndjamena, Niamey, Nyala, Paris, Port Sudan, Riyadh, Sanaa, Sharjah, Tripoli, Wadi Haifa and Wau.[27] In 2007, the Sudanese government privatised the airline, maintaining only a 30% stake of the national carrier.[28][29] The Kuwaiti private group that owned 49% of the shares since then sold its stake back to the state in 2011.[6]

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,[30][31][32] despite it was stated as not being in connection with the accident.[33] This decision was later rolled back, and the company was allowed to resume operations.[34][35]

In late March 2010, all Sudan-based airlines were banned by the European Union from flying into or within the member states.[36][37][nb 2]