Three aircraft were damaged at Khartoum Airport during the current fighting in Khartoum 

Three aircraft on the ground at Khartoum International Airport were damaged or destroyed during clashes between Sudan Military and the Rapid Support Forces, over the weekend. 

The aircraft have been identified as a Saudia A330 aircraft, owned by the Saudi Arabian flag-carrier Saudia, which was damaged and later destroyed by the fighting. 

The second aircraft was owned by the Ukrainian operator, SkyUp Airlines, which suffered further damages during the fighting. 

The third aircraft has been identified as United Nations Embraer 135-135LR 

Major Airlines including Qatar, EgyptAir and SaudiAir have all cancelled flights to and from Khartoum. 

The attacks come as Sudan is engulfed in another conflict. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized the presidential palace, the army chief’s residence and Khartoum international airport over the weekend. The RSF claim they have seized control of Meroe airport, a military base in the North and El-Obeid Airport in the West. These have been disputed by the military. 

The dispute centres onthe timing of the RSF’s integration into the SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) as part of a power-sharing deal with civilians who led the protests against former President Omar Al-Bashir in 2019. 

The conflict comes at a difficult time for Khartoum airport, whose operators had been trying to improve flight connections to and from the airport.  

SimpleFlying reported that Badar Airlines, based at Khartoum, had previously announced the launch of flights between Khartoum and London Gatwick Airport to begin in May. Air Arabia is expected to begin Sudanese Air Operator Certification (AOC), with the addition of Air Arabia Sudan.