Khartoum International Airport Reopens: Badr Airlines Resumes Flights After 4-Day RSF Drone-Forced Closure

Sudan's Civil Aviation Authority issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on May 8–9, 2026, reopening Khartoum International Airport to commercial traffic after a four-day closure forced by RSF/UAE drone attacks on May 4–5. Badr Airlines became the first carrier to resume operations, landing private flights in Khartoum on May 8–9, including a flight from Port Sudan. Tarco Aviation announced resumption of its Port Sudan–Khartoum route starting May 10; Sudanair also set to resume capital flights on May 10. The reopening came after sustained diplomatic pressure — Sudan's Prime Minister personally visited the site on May 8 to assess damage, and the UN and UK formally condemned the RSF drone attacks the same day. The Khartoum airport had only recently welcomed its first commercial flights since the war began in April 2023, making the May 4–5 attacks and resulting four-day closure a significant symbolic setback. Sudan continued to advance its UNSC evidence package linking four drone attacks since March 1 to UAE-supplied munitions allegedly launched from Bahir Dar Airport in Ethiopia — a claim both the UAE and Ethiopia denied. The AU Peace and Security Council called for de-escalation in Sudan–Ethiopia border tensions, which had been heightened by SAF's deployment of ground troops and anti-aircraft systems to East Gallabat, Basunda, and Al-Fashaga in Gedaref State. No independent body verified the Bahir Dar launch origin claim as of the airport's reopening.