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UAE suspends Khartoum flights |
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5/12/2008 11:39:22 AM |
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Flights from the UAE to Khartoum have been cancelled after the outbreak of violence and the imposition of curfew in the Sudanese capital on Saturday evening.
However, Khartoum International Airport remained open, said Mohammed Mohammed Khair, Information Attache at the Sudan Consulate in Dubai. He said while the Khartoum airport remains open, the decision to temporarily suspend flights to and from Khartoum is purely the airlines’ decision in the interest of passengers’ safety, Khair pointed out.
A spokesperson from Emirates, which has daily flights between Dubai and Khartoum, cited unrest as the reason for flight cancellations.
“Due to the unrest in Khartoum, Emirates has suspended flights to the city until further notice. We are monitoring the situation,” an Emirates spokesperson said.
Etihad Airways spokesperson Thomas Clarke said the decision was taken at 10.30pm on Saturday to cancel the airline’s Khartoum flight, due to depart at 1.40am yesterday.
“This morning’s (Monday) flight at 12.45am is also cancelled. We’re continuing to monitor the situation before the Wednesday’s flight,”
Clarke said. Gulf Air and Egypt Air, which operate between the UAE and their bases in Bahrain and Egypt, and Khartoum, also cancelled their flights yesterday. “Our flights have been suspended but we’re ready to continue as soon as the airport opens,” Gulf Air spokesperson Adnan Malek said.
Sudan Airways has also suspended all its flights until further decision, expected to be taken by Thursday, sources said.
The suspension of all flights to Khartoum has stranded several Sudanese nationals on a visit to the UAE. Several people booked to Khartoum scheduled to leave yesterday were unable to travel to Sudan. Dr Nuha Hassan, a Sudanese national on a visit to the UAE, said she was unable to exit UAE on the expiry of her three-month visit visa yesterday. “I was booked on Etihad along with my husband for Saturday. I travelled to Abu Dhabi all the way from Sharjah to take the Etihad flight on Saturday evening. But, when I reached the Abu Dhabi airport, I was told that the flight was suspended and we were booked by the airline into a hotel,” she said.
“I don’t know how long I will have to stay in the hotel because the airline has not yet decided when they will commence flights to Khartoum,” Nuha said, worried that her visa has expired and she would be required to pay fines upon exit now.
“I am worried about the fines by the immigration authorities here, hoping that they would waive the fines since the situation in Sudan was unexpected and beyond our control,” she added.
Another traveller, Mohammed Ali, who also learnt of the flight cancellations upon reaching Abu Dhabi airport on Saturday, said he was travelling to Khartoum to attend his brother’s wedding. “I took one week’s leave from work which is now wasted since the marriage has been postponed due to the crisis in Sudan.”
Salim Abdulla, who was slated to travel on Emirates yesterday to Khartoum, expressed concern over not being able to resume his office today. “Although I know that delay in reporting back to work under the circumstances is no big deal, I am worried about the security of my family back home,” noted Abdulla. |
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Source: Khaleejtimes.com |
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