Khartoum airport ‘worst in the world’: envoy

November 29, 2013 (WASHINGTON) – The British ambassador to Jordan, Peter Millett, has made a scathing assessment of Sudan’s main international airport, describing it as the “worst” in the world.

“Which is your worst airport in the world? For me it’s Khartoum Last week it was hot, dirty and devoid of any information or welcome”, the UK envoy in Amman tweeted. He gave no further details as to why he was visiting the Sudanese capital.

Some followers responded by picking Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia and Dakar in Senegal.

The remarks sparked debate among Twitter users about whether Millett’s assessment was fair and if the comments were inappropriate given his diplomatic position.

Mathew Russell, who reports on UN and security matters for the Inner City Press website, described the tweet as “some classic UK diplomacy”.

Last July, the Sudanese government signed a $700 million contract to construct a new international airport in Khartoum. The new airport will be built over an area of 103 million square metres, officials said.

The project, which will be funded through a preferential loan from China, will accommodate 80 commercial planes every hour and 6.8 million passengers per year.

The project comes at a time when several local and foreign airlines have decided to pull out of the country, deeming it unprofitable due to low passenger demand and the foreign currency shortage that hit the country following South Sudan’s split in July 2011.

(ST)