Sudan Airways Looks To Sell Its Only Airbus A300

Sudan Airways has listed its only Airbus A300-600 up for sale, with all bids due by April 10th. The African airline will accept bids for the entire aircraft or the major parts installed. The A300 has been with the airline since 2006 and is approaching 30 years of age.

30-year-old A300-600 up for sale

ST-ATB, an Airbus A300-600 operated by Sudan Airways, has been put up for sale. According to ch-aviation, Sudan Airways will accept bids for the plane up until April 10th. Interested parties can bid for the whole aircraft or its major parts, including two Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. According to ch-aviation, "Tender documentation for the nearly 30-year-old jet indicates that the sale includes two Pratt & Whitney PW4158 engines (esn P728520 and P724015)." In the case of bidding for the aircraft's parts, the costs of disassembling the parts will be borne by the bidder and not the airline. Any interested bidders will need to pay a non-refundable fee of $1,000 to acquire the bidding documents from Khartoum.

Sudan Airways' ST-ATB

Sudan Airways' sole Airbus A300-600 (registration: ST-ATB) was acquired by the airline in 2006 from Air Atlanta Icelandic, a charter and ACMI carrier based in Iceland. The aircraft was pulled from service a long time ago and has remained in storage at Khartoum International Airport ever since.

ST-ATB was delivered to China Airlines in December 1992 and saw almost 13 years of service with the Chinese carrier. It then moved on to Air Atlanta Icelandic and spent a brief period on lease at UAE-based charter airline Dolphin Air in the mid-2000s. The Airbus A300 is equipped with two Pratt & Whitney PW4158 engines and seats 265 passengers - 16 in business and 249 in economy. Sudan Airways has given ST-ATB the name 'Elburag.'

The Sudan Airways fleet

Sudan Airways currently operates with a small fleet of two aircraft - an Airbus A320-200 and a Boeing 737-500. A long-standing European flight ban and US sanctions have hit the airline hard over the past decade. The A320-200 (registration: ST-MKW) has been with Sudan Airways since 2009 when it was acquired on lease from Comoro Islands Airline. In 2016, the plane was re-registered and has been in and out of service. The Boeing 737-500 (registration: C5-MAB) is on a wet leasing agreement from Alfa Airlines SD, a Sudanese aviation company. The plane has served Sudan Airways since 2015 and seats 138 passengers.

The Sudanese government hopes to rebuild Sudan Airways and reconnect it with Europe. All airlines from Sudan have been banned from EU airspace since 2010. Sudan Airways has conducted talks with Boeing and Airbus, but no significant progress has been made.