Sudan welcomed its first international civilian flight on Tuesday following the outbreak of a conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in mid-April.

The Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority made the announcement in a statement, confirming that an EgyptAir flight from Cairo, Egypt, touched down at Port Sudan Airport, the capital city of the Red Sea State, earlier this morning.

This development comes after the Authority reopened the airspace in Sudan's eastern region on August 15 and launched an alternative air navigation center in Port Sudan.

Sudan had closed its airspace shortly after the conflict erupted as the air navigation systems at Khartoum International Airport were impacted by the ongoing clashes. Diplomats and foreigners leaving the country were forced to use a small airport associated with the army's Wadi Seidna Air Base in Omdurman City, northwest of the capital Khartoum, or the international airport in Port Sudan, which is situated more than 800 kilometers east of Khartoum.

Since April 15, Sudan has been grappling with deadly clashes between its armed forces and paramilitary groups in Khartoum and other regions, resulting in a toll of at least 3,000 fatalities and over 6,000 injuries, according to figures released by the Sudanese Health Ministry.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported that approximately 4.8 million people have been displaced both inside and outside Sudan due to the conflict, as of its latest update. (ILKHA)