Emirates suspends flights to Sudan amid crackdown

Dubai: Emirates has suspended flights to and from Sudan following political unrest in the capital Khartoum. The carrier also said flights operated by the company’s code-share partner flydubai to and from Khartoum and Port Sudan stand cancelled.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad said it was monitoring developments in Khartoum, and had delayed Tuesday’s flight for 24 hours as a result of Monday’s crackdown on protesters. A spokesperson for Air Arabia said its flights out of Sharjah to Khartoum were operating “as scheduled” for the time being.

In a statement posted on its website, Emirates announced that until further notice, “customers connecting onto Emirates flights to Khartoum and/or Flydubai flights to Khartoum or Port Sudan will not be accepted for travel at origin.”

The statement added that Emirates was “monitoring the situation closely,” aiming to give customers as much notice as possible if there were any further changes to operations.

Emirates had been operating three daily flights to Khartoum.

Affected customers should contact their booking agent or local Emirates office for assistance, the airline said, and regularly check the status of their flight on its website. Etihad confirmed it was providing hotel rooms where necessary to passengers from Tuesday’s delayed flight.

On Monday, Sudan’s military forcefully broke up a peaceful protest outside Khartoum’s army headquarters, leaving more than 30 dead and hundreds wounded in what the US described as a “brutal” crackdown. The protesters were demanding that power be transferred to civilian rule following the overthrow of long-time president Omar Al Bashir.

Emirates had been operating three daily flights to Khartoum.