Sudan Airways resumes flights to southern Sudan capital

NAIROBI, June 15 (AFP) — Sudan’s national airline on Wednesday resumed service to the formerly rebel-held south, suspended 20 years ago at the height of a long-running civil war that ended in January, officials said.

The first Sudan Airways flight from Khartoum to the southern Sudanese town of Juba left the Sudanese capital early Wednesday, according to airline officials in Nairobi where the Boeing 737-200 service culiminates.

The flight is scheduled for every Wednesday between the three east African cities, John Okoth, the Sudan Airway manager in Kenya, told AFP.

“We are planning to increase the frequency to two flights a week in the near future as well as introduce a bigger plane,” he said.

Sudan Airways suspended its Khartoum-Juba-Nairobi route in the mid-1980s as the war between Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and government troops intensified, compromising passenger safety.

Juba, a government garrison town during the 21 years of war that ended with the signing of a peace deal in Kenya on January 9, is the only town in war-devastated southern Sudan with a fully functional airport.

The town is to eventually serve as the capital of a semi-autonomous southern Sudan for a period of six years after which the south will vote in a referendum on secession, under the terms of the peace agreement.

The former SPLM/A is currently building a big airport in Rumbek, the interim capital of the regional government west of Juba that is currently home to numerous United Nations and other international humanitarian missions.

Juba and Rumbek are now mainly served by charter airlines although a private Kenyan carrier, East African Safari Air Express (EASAX), began scheduled flights to Rumbek in February.