Khartoum Shootings: SkyUp Airlines and Saudia Release Statements

On April 15, videos showed the people of Khartoum in a state of terror as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a well-known paramilitary group, took control of the Army headquarters, defence ministry, and the airport in the Sudanese capital.
 

Integrating the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the military is currently a source of disagreement between the paramilitary group and the army.

Following this, both Saudia Airlines and SkyUp Airways issued the statements below.

Saudia Airlines' Statement over Khartoum

SAUDIA has released a statement confirming that its A330 aircraft with flight number SV458 was involved in an accident at Khartoum International Airport on April 15 before it could take off to Riyadh at 0730hrs UTC.

Updated statement regarding the damage to the #SAUDIA aircraft in Sudan pic.twitter.com/E0qs7nIoRT

— المركز الإعلامي | الخطوط السعودية (@svmedia_center) April 15, 2023

SAUDIA's emergency team promptly responded and worked with relevant authorities, including the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Republic of Sudan, to gather more information about the incident.

As a precaution, all flights to and from Sudan have been suspended until further notice.

SkyUp Airlines Statement

On April 15, conflict erupted in Sudan, and an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) was activated on one of SkyUp Airlines' two planes at Khartoum airport. The aircraft is said to be either badly damaged or destroyed.

However, the 36 SkyUp employees still in the country are in safe locations. The main priority now is to ensure the safety of employees and facilitate their departure from the country as soon as possible.

SkyUp is working with the Embassy of Ukraine in Egypt, the Honorary Consulate of Ukraine in Sudan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and other public institutions to achieve this goal.

The company will update the media as the situation develops. SkyUp's planes are in Sudan under an ACMI agreement with Sun Air and have been flying to Cairo, Riyadh, and Jeddah since the beginning of 2023.

State-owned Russian news agency RIA has reported that Russian diplomats are safe, while Russia's embassy in Sudan expressed concern over the violence.