Renk County Airstrip. | Courtesy.

Renk Airstrip in Upper Nile has reopened two months after it was closed due to its bad condition, a local official said.

The airstrip was under maintenance since March 2022.

In the early days of the Sudanese conflict, the airstrip was put out of service forcing planes to switch to Polach airport.

But the Paloch Airport is currently closed due to the returnee and refugee crisis.

According to Renk Commissioner Kak Padiet, the airstrip reopened and it is being used as an alternative for the evacuation of returnees stranded in the area.

Padiet said the airstrip receives four domestic flights including humanitarian planes daily.

“Renk Airport has started to operate and currently receives four flights per day. Today at twelve noon, we will receive two planes for each of Wau and the administrative district of the Ruweng administrative area,” he told Eye Radio.

“Currently, we are receiving more than four flights other than humanitarian flights, which are mostly between two and three carrying foodstuffs, medical supplies, and fuel. Polach Airport is currently out of service, so everyone depends on Renk Airstrips.”

Tens of thousands of people have crossed into South Sudan from Sudan since the war broke out in Khartoum in mid-April.