Why Khartoum’s airport reopening matters beyond Sudan

After over two years of closure, Khartoum International Airport on Wednesday October 22 begun to handle domestic flights again, a development that matters not just for Sudanese people but for the wider region.

Throwback

Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority announced the airport would gradually reopen for domestic services this week, and a Badr Airlines flight from Port Sudan was reported as the first civilian plane to land since the war began in April 2023.

The comeback was briefly delayed after drone strikes around the airport earlier this week attacks that underlined the facility’s continued vulnerability even as authorities work to restore services.

Why this matters beyond Khartoum

Faster movement for humanitarian aid

For over a year, humanitarian convoys operated by UNICEF and the World Food Programme have struggled to reach parts of central and western Sudan as fconflicts blocked major roads and made ground routes unpredictable.

In May this year, a WFP food convoy heading to Darfur was attacked, forcing several agencies to temporarily suspend deliveries to conflict zones.

Air access speeds up delivery of aid, especially to regions cut off by damaged roads or insecurity.

Humanitarian groups and health services often rely on airports to move large consignments of supplies and to evacuate the wounded or sick, a task which cannnot be reliably executed by land routes in a fragmented conflict zone.

The resumption of flights offers a route that could ease logistics for all agencies working across Sudan.

Regional markets and trade links

Khartoum is a transport hub for trade and commerce in the wider Horn and northeast Africa.

Restoring domestic air links will help reunite supply chains, reduce transit times for goods, and make it easier for businesses and traders in neighboring countries to coordinate with partners in Sudan.

Even limited domestic flights are a first step toward reviving cross-border movement and trade.

Refugee and displacement dynamics

The over two years of war has displaced many. Reopening the airport, even for domestic travel, makes it easier for victims to return to family or access services in the capital and may change where aid agencies focus resources.

It also affects neighbouring countries like Ethiopia, South Sudan and Egypt that host Sudanese refugees by changing movement patterns and pressure points near borders.

A political signal with international consequences

The reopening comes as the Sudanese military continues to battle the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a months-long fight to stabilize a country already ravaged by years of political turmoil and conflict since the fall of former leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

That matters to foreign governments, regional blocs and investors deciding whether to engage with, aid, or pressure actors in Sudan, decisions that have ripple effects across diplomacy and regional stability.

The recent drone strikes, and threats said to come from RSF leadership, also signal the risks that come with any fast normalization.

What still hangs

Drone attacks and threats from the Rapid Support Forces show the airport, and flights, are still at risk. That is likely to discourage airlines, aid groups and foreign governments from speeding up operations.

Bottom line

Khartoum’s reopening comes across as a practical win; shorter delivery times for aid, options for medical evacuations, and a pathway to reconnect markets, but also most importantly, it matters to neighbouring countries like Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan which will rely on cross-border logistics and hosting Sudanese refugees.

As to whether this new step leads to sustained recovery or proves fragile will depend mainly on security on the ground and whether flights can operate without becoming targets.