EgyptAir to Resume Direct Flights from Egypt to Sudan

Sudanese families wait outside a hospital while doctors and medical staff strike to protest late salaries, bringing the struggling health sector in the city of Port Sudan to almost a complete halt as thousands of displaced Sudanese flooded the city due to the raging war in Khartoum, Sudan, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak
Sudanese families wait outside a hospital while doctors and medical staff strike to protest late salaries, bringing the struggling health sector in the city of Port Sudan to almost a complete halt as thousands of displaced Sudanese flooded the city due to the raging war in Khartoum, Sudan, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak
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EgyptAir to Resume Direct Flights from Egypt to Sudan

Sudanese families wait outside a hospital while doctors and medical staff strike to protest late salaries, bringing the struggling health sector in the city of Port Sudan to almost a complete halt as thousands of displaced Sudanese flooded the city due to the raging war in Khartoum, Sudan, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak
Sudanese families wait outside a hospital while doctors and medical staff strike to protest late salaries, bringing the struggling health sector in the city of Port Sudan to almost a complete halt as thousands of displaced Sudanese flooded the city due to the raging war in Khartoum, Sudan, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak

Egyptian authorities said the national carrier will resume direct flights to Sudan this week following high profile talks between the Egyptian president and Sudan's military chief.

Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation said Tuesday that EgyptAir would launch a weekly flight route from Cairo to the Sudanese coastal city of Port Sudan starting Friday. No further details were given.

Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April when simmering tensions between the military, led by Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere.

The flight announcement came hours after Burhan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi concluded talks in Cairo. The visit marks the Sudanese general’s first trip abroad since fighting erupted on April 15.

Sudanese authorities reopened the airspace in the east of the country earlier this month, according to local media. Port Sudan on the Red Sea has seen limited fighting since the conflict broke out and is controlled by the military. The port has become the main entry point for humanitarian flights and aid shipments for Sudan.



Tunisia-Algeria Railway Resumes Services after 30-Year Hiatus

The train at the railway station in the Tunisian capital (TAP)
The train at the railway station in the Tunisian capital (TAP)
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Tunisia-Algeria Railway Resumes Services after 30-Year Hiatus

The train at the railway station in the Tunisian capital (TAP)
The train at the railway station in the Tunisian capital (TAP)

The Algeria-Tunisia railway resumed its services on Sunday morning after a nearly three-decade hiatus because of political turmoil in Algeria, and a deteriorating security situation in the 1990s.
The inaugural commercial service was launched from Tunis to Algeria’s Annaba Station.
The train will travel a distance of 357 km, accommodating up to 300 passengers per trip.
Tunisia’s Acting Minister of Transport Sarra Zafarani Zanzri and her Algerian counterpart Mohamed El Habib Zahana gave the go-ahead for this first journey at the Tunis railway station.
The seven-hour journey will cover more than 300 km with stops in the stations of Beja, Jendouba, Ghar el-Damma and Algeria's Souk Ahras and Annaba, he said.
In June, the two sides ran several test trips after signing an agreement on the mechanisms for re-running a train between Tunisia and Algeria.
The Tunisian National Railways Company will first run the trips, which will boost tourism and trade between the two countries, and will ease the pressure on congested land crossings. Nearly 3 million Algerian tourists arrive in Tunisia annually.