Sudan Airways
Sudan Airways () is the national airline of Sudan, headquartered in Khartoum. Since 2012, the company has been fully owned by the Government of Sudan. One of the oldest African carriers, it was formed in and started scheduled operations in July the following year. , Sudan Airways had 1,700 employees. The airline has been included in the list of air carriers banned in the European Union . History. An Air Advisory Board was formed in 1945 to assess on the feasibility of starting air services in the country, recommending to set up an air company with the aid of foreign carriers  that would provide their technical and management expertise. Initially, the new airline would restrict its operations to on-demand services. Sudan Airways was formed in February 1946 with the technical assistance of Airwork Limited, and the commercial support of Sudan Railways. The initial fleet was composed of four de Havilland Doves, with test flights commencing in . The first scheduled operations were launched in July the same year, with the first timetable being published in September. Khartoum became Sudan Airways' hub from the very beginning. From there, the carrier started flying four different services all across the Sudanese territory, as well  as to Eritrea. The first routes the company flew linked Khartoum with Asmara, Atbara, El Fashir, El Obeid, Geneina, Juba, Kassala, Malakal, and Port Sudan, all of them served by de Havilland Dove aircraft. An Airwork Viking flew the Blackbushe–Khartoum long-haul route. A fifth Dove was ordered in . That year, a route to Wadi Halfa was launched. Sudan Railways withdrew from the airline's management in 1949; the government and Airwork continued running the company thereafter. Kassala and Asmara were removed from the airline list of destinations in 1952. In February that year, a fifth Dove was phased  in. There was such a demand for flying that the toilets on the Doves were removed to make room for more seats, with these aircraft even carrying passengers in the cockpit. This prompted the airline to look for newer and bigger airliners, with the Douglas DC-3 and the de Havilland Heron being under consideration. Flown with Austers and Doves, by the carrier was operating a domestic network that was long. That year, the carrier incorporated the first four DC-3s into the fleet. The boost in capacity allowed the company to carry both passengers and mail, to introduce new regular routes  to Cairo and Wad Medani, and to carry out aerial survey tasks for the government. Also in 1953, the Chadian city of Abeche was made part of the route network, whereas regular flights to Jeddah were launched in . Services to Athens commenced in the mid-1950s. Two more DC-3s were bought in 1956. In 1958, after taking office, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decided to expand the carrier's international operations. A seventh DC-3 was incorporated into the fleet that year. Long-haul services started in June 1959 between Khartoum and London via Rome –the so-called "Blue Nile