The conflict in Sudan and subsequent aid crisis is entering year four with more than 33 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. Learn how Airlink is helping organizations reach them. 

Three years since the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces plunged Sudan into civil war, the country has become home to the most catastrophic humanitarian emergency. Two-thirds of the entire population, some 33 million people, now require humanitarian assistance. Over 19 million face acute food insecurity, while 15 million people have fled their homes in what is simultaneously the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis. Amidst these crises, upwards of 80% of health facilities in conflict affected areas are non-functional; the remaining health clinics are often overwhelmed, strapped for supplies and essential medicines, and supported by aid organizations navigating complex importation and logistics to resource and staff them. As fighting continues, the cost and complexity of delivering critically needed food, medicine, shelter, and other humanitarian supplies have become insurmountable for many nonprofits. 

Organizations are facing several compounding challenges in delivering life-saving aid to Sudan due to limited access, high costs, and chronic underfunding. The closure of Khartoum International Airport at the start of the war, which once served as the country’s primary air cargo gateway, has left Port Sudan International Airport as Sudan’s sole functioning international entry point for relief supplies— only accessible through a limited number of international origins and served by a thin roster of air carriers. Importing items by sea, especially medicines requiring strict temperature control, brings its own set of challenges due to ongoing uncertainty of Red Sea shipping lanes and conflict in the Middle East, which has disrupted global container flows. These realities not only make access difficult but also make the cost of importing life-saving relief supplies unaffordable, with rates upwards of 70% higher than in pre-conflict times. 

Access to Port Sudan alone does not solve the logistics puzzle. Large parts of the country including Darfur where some of the direst needs exist, are still largely inaccessible through this channel due to active fighting. To overcome this, organizations established N’Djamena, Chad, as a critical staging hub before humanitarian aid makes the 1,000 km journey to Sudan. However, airfreight rates into N’Djamena have also surged to levels most nonprofit budgets simply cannot absorb, and the onward corridor to Darfur is expensive, complex, volatile, and limited in transport options for cold chain shipments, such as medicines and vaccines. 

On top of all of this, aid organizations remain chronically underfunded. In 2025, Sudan received just 40% of its funding requirements, and organizations are struggling to find resources to cover the high costs of logistics and transportation, while also managing reduced headcounts for logistics and supply chain staff. As a result, organizations are using Airlink’s free airlift and logistics solutions as a lifeline. 

Despite these barriers, Airlink has remained steadfast in making the impossible possible for its partners by delivering over 590 MT of medical supplies, medicines, food aid, shelter, and WASH materials since 2023 through three key logistics models:  

• Combining Donated Cargo Capacity with Paid Airlift: Through its partnerships with commercial airlines, Airlink is leveraging donated airfreight to send aid from North America and Asia to strategic hubs, such as Liège, Belgium, and Dubai, UAE. This model allows Airlink to move aid to intermediate airports where the onward cost of transportation is the lowest on the market, followed by air transportation directly to communities paid for by Airlink. 

• Consolidated Relief Flights: By consolidating ready-to-go relief shipments from multiple organizations into a dedicated charter flight, Airlink drastically reduces the cost of airfreight to destinations such as N’Djamena or Port Sudan, allowing them to support more partners. 

• Multi-Modal Solutions: Through its deep bench of freight-forwarding partners, Airlink delivers urgently needed aid directly to Darfur through an end-to-end logistics model that combines free airlift into N’Djamena, Chad with onward cross border road transportation to Sudan, while helping partners navigate complex customs and border crossing procedures. This support includes temperature-controlled trucking, which is extremely limited on this route.