The Face of Truth: Wad Zayed Airport: Enters Service Next March
Ibrahim Shaglawi
Wad Zayed Airport has once again returned to the forefront in the Sudanese state’s approach to managing the eastern region, where development, security, and infrastructure intersect.
The airport, constructed by the Dams Implementation Unit as part of the accompanying projects of the Upper Atbara and Setit Dams Complex, embodies a conscious attempt to reshape the geopolitical and economic geography of a region long besieged by isolation, fragility, and weak foundations.
The announcement yesterday by the Civil Aviation Authority approving the operation of Wad Zayed International Airport during the first quarter of 2026, alongside the commencement of expansions and the completion of halls, cannot be read in isolation from the developmental and political context of the area.
The airport forms part of the developmental belt of eastern Sudan, near the city of Al-Showak in Gedaref State, and extends over an area of 400 feddans within the Al-Feel Forest zone, with a limited and balanced land allocation that weighs the requirements of development against environmental conservation.
The selection of the site and its technical approval were carried out earlier within the framework of coordination between the Dams Implementation Unit and the Civil Aviation Authority, reflecting a forward-looking vision of developmental planning that characterized the major infrastructure projects implemented by the Unit over the past two decades. The first aircraft landed there in mid-2011, carrying a delegation from the Unit and the companies.
From a developmental perspective, the airport represents a vital link between agricultural and livestock projects in Gedaref and Kassala States and national and regional markets. Its proximity to Al-Showak Market, one of the largest livestock markets in the country, gives it added value in supporting livestock exports, reducing transport costs, and enhancing the competitiveness of Sudanese products.
The presence of an air gateway in this area also opens the door to promising investments and facilitates the movement of technical and administrative cadres—an essential factor in regions that have historically suffered from isolation and weak services.
Politically, integrating Wad Zayed Airport into the national air transport network contributes to addressing one of the most complex challenges of the Sudanese state: the imbalanced relationship between the center and the peripheries. Reconnecting the east to the national sphere is not achieved through rhetoric alone, but through tangible infrastructure that reduces the sense of geographic marginalization that has fueled protests and conflicts in previous stages. The presence of the airport alongside dams and roads strengthens the presence of civil and security state institutions and redefines the concept of sovereignty as the capacity to provide services and protection.
From a security standpoint, the geographic location near the Ethiopian and Eritrean borders places the airport at the heart of the balance of influence in eastern Sudan—and perhaps the Horn of Africa—where the aerial and land vacuum has long been a source of structural weakness for the state. Possessing an air anchor point at this location enhances Sudan’s ability to assert aerial control over its eastern domain, supports reconnaissance and rapid-response missions, and grants the state a wider margin of maneuver in managing open borders that have long posed security and economic challenges. In this sense, the airport sends a message of sovereignty: the east is no longer a soft arena, but a space subject to state management and calculations.
In the post-conflict context, the airport can be read as part of the logic of “reconstruction,” where infrastructure integrates with the reproduction of stability. Shortening travel time to project areas, facilitating the deployment of development programs, and creating an environment attractive to development grants and loans are all functions that transcend economics into politics, as they redefine the state as a present actor rather than an absent one.
This airport, which began as an unpaved airstrip known as Al-Showak Airport, later took the name Wad Zayed in tribute to Nazir Mahmoud Issa Wad Zayed (1821–1896), nicknamed “Shahm Al-Bal Al-Durar,” born in the village of Sharboub west of the Atbara River. He assumed the Nazirate during the Turkish era after his brother Adlan and became known in Sudan for generosity, courage, leading armies, feeding people, and providing relief in times of hardship.
The story of the airport cannot be understood without returning to the broader context of the Upper Atbara and Setit Dams Complex. This project, whose conceptual roots go back to the period following the construction of Khashm El-Girba Dam and the resettlement of those affected by Halfa, faced decades of delay in the search for financing, before its executive will took shape between 2007 and 2009 through updated studies and designs. Funding came from Kuwait, Arab funds, China, and Algeria, in addition to contributions from the Government of Sudan. The project held strategic importance for water and food security.
The two dams, with their shared reservoir and storage capacity exceeding 3.7 billion cubic meters and electricity production of 450 megawatts, constituted a comprehensive reconfiguration of the economic and social sphere of the region, in terms of electricity, the provision of irrigation and drinking water, the reduction of siltation in Khashm El-Girba Dam, and the increase of fish resources.
Thus, according to #TheFaceOfTruth, the story of Wad Zayed Airport represents a national project shaped by the hands of workers and the sacrifices of local communities, yet it raises an important political question: can the state transform this infrastructure into a lever for stability and balanced development? Between this question and the pressures of reality, the airport remains a witness to the greatness of a developmental planning that was defeated by conspiracy and betrayal, yet gave birth to economic strength and aerial control that have become a guarantee for the unity of the state and its future.
Stay well and in good health.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
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