Sudan sets up alternative flight routes after closure of Yemeni airspace

March 26, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The civil aviation authorities in Sudan said on Thursday that it had set up contingency plans which enables airlines from the Middle East and the Gulf region take alternative routes after the closure of Yemeni airspace due to ongoing Saudi-led military operations in the country.

The director of air traffic management at civil aviation authority Abu-Bakr al-Sideeg said that they succeeded in managing heavy air traffic crossing Sudanese airspace to avoid flying over Yemen.

He told Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) website that the air navigation center in Khartoum which has the most advanced technological equipment and highly trained officers were able to execute the emergency plan in collaboration with neighboring countries specially Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

In the military campaign codenamed “Operation Decisive Storm,” Saudi Arabia along with its Gulf allies launched airstrikes on Thursday against Shiite Houthi militants allied with Iran, who have taken control of Yemen since September 2014.

(ST)