عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Sudan National Carrier Receives Airbus Program for Rehabilitation

Sudan National Carrier Receives Airbus Program for Rehabilitation
TT
TT

Sudan National Carrier Receives Airbus Program for Rehabilitation

Sudan National Carrier Receives Airbus Program for Rehabilitation

The Sudanese government announced on Saturday receiving a rehabilitation and operations plan from the European aeronautics company, Airbus, to serve its national carrier Sudan Airways for the upcoming 10 years.

The initiative was inked at a meeting held in Dubai and with each of the Sudanese Transport Minister representatives of the French company.

Transport Minister Makkawi Mohamed Al-Awad expressed in a press statement his hope that Sudan Airways would recapture its global status after having suffered long-term stalemate in world markets.

He considered the initiative with Airbus a step towards development and boosting competition for international airlines.The plan includes open options either through partnership, or sales, he added.

According to the minister, the restructuring of the Sudanese airliner is a part of a national plan to expand a fleet of civil aircraft over the next three years, noting that the Airbus plan is promising for the revival of Sudan Airways.

In preparation for the makeover, Sudan Airways carried out last month a huge employee survey and shuffle which saw the hiring of new personnel.

“Sudan Airways could have been bankrupt. It has not performed well in recent years and has difficulties in to pay back its debts to clients, including the Sudanese civil aviation authorities,” Awad said in an earlier interview.

The Airbus plan was prepared when Sales Director Airbus Middle-East & North Africa Cyrille Picard visited Khartoum two months ago with a large team of experts, Sudan Airways sources said.

Arrangements are under way for the purchase of a new air fleet comprising seven aircraft units.

In November 2017, Khartoum signed a contract with a Chinese company on buying two planes at $60 million.

It is worth noting that Sudan Airways’ partnership with the Islamic Development Bank helps greatly in financing a part of the new aircraft deals.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
TT
TT

Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Mexico won't be required to pay tariffs on any goods that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade until April 2, but made no mention of a reprieve for Canada despite his Commerce secretary saying a comparable exemption was likely.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd."

Earlier on Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the one-month reprieve on hefty tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada that has been granted to automotive products is likely to be extended to all products that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.

Lutnick told CNBC he expected Trump to announce that extension on Thursday, a day after exempting automotive goods from the 25% tariffs he slapped on imports from Canada and Mexico earlier in the week.

Trump "is going to decide this today," Lutnick said, adding "it's likely that it will cover all USMCA-compliant goods and services."

"So if you think about it this way, if you lived under Donald Trump's US-Mexico-Canada agreement, you will get a reprieve from these tariffs now. If you chose to go outside of that, you did so at your own risk, and today is when that reckoning comes," he said.

Nonetheless, Trump's social media post made no mention of a reprieve for Canada, the other party to the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Lutnick said his "off the cuff" estimate was that more than 50% of the goods imported from the two US neighbors - also its largest two trading partners - were compliant with the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Lutnick's comments "promising" in remarks to reporters in Canada.

"That aligns with some of the conversations that we have been having with administration officials, but I'm going to wait for an official agreement to talk about Canadian response and look at the details of it," Trudeau said. "But it is a promising sign. But I will highlight that it means that the tariffs remain in place, and therefore our response will remain in place."

Lutnick emphasized that the reprieve would only last until April 2, when he said the administration plans to move ahead with reciprocal tariffs under which the US will impose levies that match those imposed by trading partners.

In the meantime, he said, the current hiatus is about getting fentanyl deaths down, which is the initial justification Trump used for the tariffs on Mexico and Canada and levies on Chinese goods that have now risen to 20%.

"On April 2, we're going to move with the reciprocal tariffs, and hopefully Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table, and we'll move just to the reciprocal tariff conversation," Lutnick said. "But if they haven't, this will stay on."

Indeed, Trudeau is expecting the US and Canada to remain in a trade war.

"I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future," he told reporters in Ottawa.