The last airline departs .. The dollar is missing airlines from the skies of Sudan

Ahmed Fadl-Khartoum

Isolation is what aviation industry partners in Sudan fear as successive regional routes, most recently Qatar Airways, continue to escape. Although 24 air carriers have survived so far, the foreign exchange crisis has kept them at stake.

By April 1, Qatar Airways will suspend all flights scheduled to and from Sudan, and days before Royal Jordanian took the same step.

In the past six years, Deutsche Lufthansa, the Dutch company KLM and the Swiss international airline have stopped flights to and from Sudan.

According to officials surveyed by Al Jazeera Net, the failure of the conversion of sales of foreign airlines in foreign currency and the rise in the price of fuel represents the biggest problems of companies fleeing the volatility of the dollar exchange rate after the decision of the Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority to sell tickets in Sudanese pounds.

Legitimate concerns
Travel agency fears are the biggest, according to the head of the travel agencies union, Mahjoub al-Mukhtar, who says Qatar Airways' departure will cause a significant shortage of ticket sales, and so prices may rise, possibly leading to passenger disruptions.

"The airline offers the Sudanese traveler Doha, Karachi, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and the United States good prices," said Al-Mukar to Al Jazeera Net. "The suspension of flights will result in a shortage of tickets and baggage.

"Until last Thursday, we contacted the regional director of Qatar Airways and said he had not received from Doha the suspension of the flights. He is likely to reach us on Sunday."

He notes that Qatar Airways and before the Gulf States' blockade of Qatar were running three flights a day to Khartoum carrying about 500 passengers, but after the blockade, a daily flight takes place with a large capacity of about 250 passengers a day.

The government advised the government to impose the sale of tickets in Sudanese pounds, provided that it is committed to transfer sales in hard currency because this is the real problem, he says.

He added that Sudan had the cheapest fuel price in the region made it a kiss for airlines formed an important return in the following fees landing and movement of goods, but now the fuel is controlled by "traders."

He believes that the new director of the civil aviation authority, Mustapha Duweihi, is seeking from his experience in the field to solve the problem of converting sales after he met with officials of the Bank of Sudan and the airlines.

other reasons
But the spokesman for the Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority Abdul Hafiz Abdul Rahim and Deputy Secretary-General of the Chamber of Air Transport Omar Ali Abdul Majid, agree that the high price of fuel at Khartoum Airport aggravated the losses of Qatar Airways, which increased flight hours because of the siege of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Although Abdel-Hafez acknowledged problems related to foreign exchange and high fuel prices, he believes that the flight of some airlines will not isolate Sudan to provide alternatives to 24 foreign and national carriers, which is still operating in the country.

He says that Jordan Airways - which suffers mainly from operating problems - accounts for only 0.6 percent of the Sudan's ticket sales market and had three flights a week, while Tarco is traveling one flight.

And on the Qatari confirms to the island Net that can be reached the destination of Doha, for example, through other alternatives, such as Ethiopian with the traveler carrying the time of the connection station "Connection" in Addis Ababa.

He notes that there are three million passengers a year through Khartoum Airport, of which 76% are foreign companies, 78% are national companies, 22% are national companies and 24% are Saudi and Emirati companies alone.

Commercial Decision
Deputy Secretary-General of the Chamber of Transport Omar Ali Abdul Majid believes that Qatar Airways stop-ups are purely commercial because its aircraft are currently forced to fly about 5 hours from Doha to Khartoum instead of about three hours previously due to the blockade.

He told Al Jazeera Net that the cost of operating Qatar Airways was up with the fuel it was getting from Khartoum, and warned that continued corporate downtime would be effective.

Abdul Majid advises the revival of Sudanair Airways (Sudan Airways), which covers 47 percent of ticket sales. With its withdrawal, foreign sales sell tickets in foreign currency, a major foreign exchange market.

He explained that supporting national transport and its recovery with other national companies would provide 40% of the sales turnover of foreign companies, a huge amount that could help Sudanair to buy aircraft and hire the national carrier to turn into a source of revenue.

The biggest loser
In the context of solving the solutions, the spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority reveals that the Authority is currently studying the threats, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses, based on the problem of foreign exchange, in return for the hub airport property and Sudan's conclusion of 69 air transport agreements.

He adds that the losing business status of foreign companies could also be offset by the rise of local aviation and the improvement of its services by bringing aircraft and government support within the limits of local procedures, where the Authority is studying with national companies to recruit large aircraft.

He says that if an air carrier withdraws from any station whose passengers are distributed to competitors, it is an opportunity for national companies to be a foreseeable alternative if they are supported by lower fees and operating costs, especially fuel, which accounts for 40 percent of the cost.

According to its spokesman, the Aviation Authority provided initiatives such as accepting 25 per cent of the transit and landing fees for aircraft arriving at Khartoum airport to be paid in local currency.

In January, the authority issued a circular requiring airlines to sell tickets in local currency after complaints to the central bank.

Until the evacuation of the foreign exchange crisis, the Sudanese traveler will be the biggest loser because the flight of the lines reduces the chances of his arrival directly to his destination, and will make more time and money in indirect flights and connecting stations.