Hopes for a rapid recovery in Red Sea trade have been dashed following renewed drone attacks on Port Sudan, prompting cargo airline Astral Aviation to suspend all flights to the embattled Sudanese city and to Sanaa, Yemen.
The announcement comes just days after a tentative ceasefire between the United States and Yemen’s Houthi rebels had raised optimism for improved maritime and air security in the region.
However, Nairobi-based Astral Aviation—one of the few operators flying humanitarian and commercial cargo into conflict-affected zones in East Africa and the Middle East—confirmed its immediate withdrawal due to escalating threats to air safety and infrastructure.
Astral Aviation, which operates a fleet of one Boeing 737 and two Boeing 767 freighters, has completed more than 300 cargo missions to Sanaa since 2015 and over 100 flights to Port Sudan since 2023.
Its suspension of services is expected to worsen already fragile humanitarian supply chains, many of which depend on air freight to deliver critical supplies such as medicine, food, and emergency relief to areas where road and sea routes are inaccessible or blocked.
“We deeply regret having to suspend services to these critical areas,” said Astral Aviation CEO Sanjeev Gadhia. “However, the security risks to our crew and aircraft have become untenable. The safety of our personnel must remain paramount.”
The situation is particularly dire in Sudan, where ongoing civil conflict has ravaged infrastructure and displaced millions.
Port Sudan, the country’s main Red Sea port, had served as a crucial access point for international relief agencies attempting to reach the country’s devastated interior.
In response, humanitarian organizations are scrambling to establish alternative logistics routes, including transshipments via Djibouti and chartered flights to less volatile airstrips—options that are significantly more costly and time-consuming.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) acknowledged the disruption, calling on all parties to the conflict to respect the neutrality of humanitarian actors and the integrity of logistics infrastructure.
This latest setback highlights the fragile nature of logistics in war zones, where even promising developments—like the recent ceasefire—can be swiftly overshadowed by renewed violence.
While ocean freight through the Suez corridor may gradually resume, the skies over Sudan and Yemen remain closed to one of the region’s most vital cargo providers.
