SUDAN · dual hubs at Khartoum and Port Sudan

Badr Airlines cargoIATA code J4 · ICAO code BDR · a regional carrier east of the Sahara

Badr Airlines is a private Sudanese airline that began trading under the Badr Airlines name in 2004, with origins in Sarit Airlines, founded in 1997. It is headquartered in Khartoum and operates from Khartoum International Airport (KRT) and Port Sudan New International Airport (PZU) as dual hubs, covering scheduled passenger services, passenger belly cargo, freighter charters and humanitarian relief transport across Northeast Africa and the main Middle East cities. For Chinese shippers the value is this pair of hubs on the western Red Sea coast: Chinese machinery, building materials and consumer goods are distributed through Khartoum and Port Sudan to Sudan and inland East Africa, and the airline also carries UN agency and relief supplies. Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited provides booking and customs clearance from Chinese gateways through the hub connection to destinations in Sudan.

Country:Republic of the Sudan Head office:Khartoum Hubs:KRT / PZU IATA:J4 ICAO:BDR Founded:2004 Official lookup website:badrairlines.com

2004

Founded

J4 / BDR

IATA and ICAO codes

Core hubs KRT and PZU

9 countries

Countries covered by the network

B737

Primary narrowbody type

Humanitarian

relief transport specialism

01 / CARRIER PROFILE

Company overview

Badr Airlines (Arabic بدر للطيران) is a private Sudanese airline with IATA code J4, ICAO code BDR and radio call sign Badr Air. It meets ICAO standards and holds an air operator certificate. Its history goes back to Sarit Airlines, founded in 1997; the brand was rebuilt and the current name adopted in 2004, and the company has since grown into one of the larger private carriers in Sudan. Headquartered in the capital, Khartoum, it runs Khartoum International Airport (KRT) as main hub and Port Sudan New International Airport (PZU, on the western Red Sea coast) as second base, forming a dual hub layout along the Nile valley and the Red Sea shore.

Badr Airlines has four business lines. First, scheduled domestic and regional passenger flights in Sudan. Second, passenger belly cargo, using the narrowbody passenger fleet to carry loose cargo and palletised or containerised shipments. Third, freighter and charter operations, with ex-Soviet cargo types for heavy and bulky loads. Fourth, humanitarian relief transport: the airline has long provided capacity to UN multilateral operation commands, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, UNOPS, Médecins Sans Frontières, the FAO and the International Rescue Committee, covering most conflict-affected and remote areas of Sudan. That mix has given the carrier solid ground handling experience in relief and post-conflict reconstruction cargo.

Since the change in Sudan's situation in 2023, operations in and around Khartoum airspace have been affected and part of the capacity has shifted toward Port Sudan, which has become an important gateway for international routes and relief supplies. For Chinese shippers this means cargo to Sudan can enter through either hub, and Port Sudan on the Red Sea combines an airport with a seaport, so air cargo can connect to road distribution or to sea carriage after landing.

On the trade fundamentals, the two countries have cooperated widely since establishing diplomatic relations in 1959, covering oil and mineral exploration, construction and roads and bridges, agriculture, textiles and health care. Public bilateral statistics put 2025 two-way trade at about USD 2.01 billion, of which Chinese exports were about USD 1.95 billion, making China again Sudan's largest source of imports. Chinese exports to Sudan are mainly machinery and electrical products, steel, transport vehicles, building materials, power equipment, new energy products and man-made fiber fabrics. Such cargo moves in large lots with clear transit requirements, matching the capacity of narrowbody belly holds and freighter charters. Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited works this flow, coordinating booking, consolidation and palletising and customs clearance at origin in China, and connecting to the Badr Airlines hubs at Khartoum and Port Sudan.

Full airline name: Badr Airlines
Country: Republic of Sudan (capital Khartoum)
Company type: Private airline
History: Predecessor Sarit Airlines founded in 1997; renamed Badr Airlines in 2004
Head office: Khartoum
Hub airport: Khartoum International Airport KRT; Port Sudan New International Airport PZU
IATA two-letter code: J4
ICAO three-letter code: BDR
Radio call sign: Badr Air
Official lookup website: badrairlines.com
Cargo product positioning: Passenger belly capacity plus freighter charters plus humanitarian relief transport

02 / FLEET & CAPACITY

Fleet in service and cargo capability

Badr Airlines flies a mixed fleet combining European and US narrowbodies with ex-Soviet cargo types. Passenger operations center on the Boeing 737 family on domestic trunk and regional scheduled services, with belly space carrying export and import loose cargo. Cargo operations use Ilyushin Il-76 and Antonov freighters for heavy, bulky and relief charter work. Narrowbody belly holds suit palletised and containerised lots and higher-value low-density cargo, while freighters suit machinery, vehicle chassis and bulk relief supplies.

Aircraft type	Positioning	Cabin and hold characteristics	Cargo capability (published figures)	Main route tiers
Boeing 737-300	Narrowbody passenger aircraft	Two-class or single-class layout, about 120-140 seats	Cargo carried in passenger belly holds; no published belly capacity data	Domestic and regional trunk routes in Sudan
Boeing 737-500	Narrowbody passenger aircraft	Two-class layout, about 100-120 seats	Cargo carried in passenger belly holds; no published belly capacity data	Khartoum, Port Sudan and regional points
Boeing 737-800	Narrowbody mainline passenger aircraft	Single-aisle, single or two-class layout	Cargo carried in passenger belly holds; no published belly capacity data	Middle East and East Africa regional routes
Embraer ERJ-145 / CRJ family	Regional jet	Single-class layout, about 50 seats	Limited belly volume, suited to small lots	Low-density regional sectors
Ilyushin Il-76TD freighter	Large four-engine turbofan freighter	Large rear door for bulky and heavy loads	Payload set by type and route; suited to machinery and bulk supplies	Relief and charter cargo
Antonov An-26 / An-74	Twin turboprop and turbofan freighters	Short take-off and landing capability for simple runways	Freighters suited to remote airdrops and front-line supply	Relief transport inside Sudan

Note: fleet composition changes with leasing, acquisitions and operations, and published fleet figures differ between sources. There is no single published figure for narrowbody belly volume and payload; confirm with the carrier on the day of booking. Freighter charter times and payload are set per flight and are not part of the scheduled timetable.

03 / ROUTE NETWORK

Dual hub network at Khartoum and Port Sudan and connections from China

Badr Airlines routes radiate from Khartoum as the traditional center and Port Sudan as the second hub on the Red Sea coast toward Northeast Africa and the Middle East. International points cover Cairo in Egypt, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Doha in Qatar, Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Juba in South Sudan, Istanbul in Turkey, and Dubai and Sharjah in the UAE; domestic points include Port Sudan, North Khartoum, Dongola, Kassala, El Fasher, Geneina and Nyala. No nonstop cargo service between China and Sudan is operated by this carrier; Chinese cargo departs Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other gateways, transits hubs such as Dubai, Sharjah or Addis Ababa, joins the Khartoum and Port Sudan network and distributes to destinations in Sudan and secondary cities in East Africa and the Middle East. The diagram is schematic. Times are local, schedules change with the season, and confirmation rests with the carrier on the day of booking.

04 / CHINA GATEWAYS

Airport handling and schedules in China

Badr Airlines publishes no nonstop schedule from China and is reached through hub connections. The network centers on East Africa and the Middle East; the China leg is flown on scheduled services from Chinese gateways to Middle East and East African hubs such as Dubai, Sharjah, Doha or Addis Ababa, and Badr Airlines then lands the cargo at Khartoum or Port Sudan for distribution. Chinese exporters usually start at Guangzhou Baiyun, Shanghai Pudong or Shenzhen Bao'an, where freighter flights to Middle East hubs are frequent and space is plentiful, making it easy to arrange palletised or full-pallet shipments by volume and transit requirement.

In transit handling, Chinese cargo is re-palletised at the Middle East hub and then connects to a Badr Airlines narrowbody belly service or freighter charter into Sudan. Because conditions in Sudan create uncertainty for Khartoum, booking must confirm whether the flight lands at Khartoum or Port Sudan and whether the destination city is reachable by road. Times are local, schedules change with the season, and confirmation rests with the carrier on the day of booking.

For contractor and aid project cargo, Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited schedules the China departure window and transit space to project milestones, avoiding delays caused by changes at a single point.

05 / DESTINATIONS FROM CHINA

Air freight from China to Sudan, East Africa and the Middle East

Through the Badr Airlines dual hub network, Chinese shippers can reach the following directions. Within Sudan: Khartoum and Port Sudan are the main landing airports, with onward connections to Dongola, Kassala, El Fasher, Geneina, Nyala and other cities, which suits Chinese machinery and equipment, building materials, vehicles, power supplies and agricultural inputs. East Africa: Juba in South Sudan and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, extendable to West African markets such as Nigeria, which suits contractor and relief cargo. Middle East: Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Doha in Qatar, and Dubai and Sharjah in the UAE, which suits Chinese cargo distributed further to Gulf states through Middle East hubs. Cross-regional: the Istanbul point allows limited connection to European networks.

In cargo matching, Chinese exports to Sudan are mainly steel, vehicles of various kinds, man-made fiber fabrics, rubber and plastic products, footwear, telecom equipment and power equipment, which are regularly packaged and suit belly containerisation. Machinery chassis, complete construction vehicles and bulk relief supplies suit Il-76 freighter charters. In the other direction, Sudanese exports to China are mainly sesame, leather, agricultural products and minerals in concentrated batches, which can be consolidated out through Port Sudan using both air and sea.

06 / WHY BADR

Freight advantages for Chinese shippers

Dual hub redundancy

Khartoum and Port Sudan back each other up: when one point is restricted, cargo can be switched to the other, reducing the effect of a single point of failure on the supply chain.

Relief experience

Long experience serving the United Nations system and international aid agencies, with working knowledge of moving supplies in post-conflict settings, temporary runway operations and emergency charter procedures, which suits aid and reconstruction project cargo.

Belly capacity plus charters

Narrowbody belly space takes routine lot cargo, freighter charters take heavy and outsized pieces, and the two capacities are combined to suit volume and transit time, covering everything from samples to construction equipment.

Location on the Red Sea coast

Port Sudan sits on the west coast of the Red Sea with the airport next to the seaport, so air cargo can connect easily to sea freight or road distribution, which makes multimodal moves of bulk trade cargo workable.

07 / BOOKING

Booking path for Chinese shippers

Badr Airlines has no publicly listed office in China; contact its local agent in China or ask Goodhope Freight to make the connection. Booking directly with the carrier is awkward for Chinese shippers because of language, time zones and document handling, so quoting and booking through a forwarder with Africa experience is the steadier route. Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited has long handled air freight from China to Sudan, East Africa and the Middle East, and can compare space on Badr Airlines against other regional carriers on a factual basis while coordinating palletising, export clearance, booking and transit connections at origin.

The process runs as follows. The shipper provides a booking note, commercial invoice and packing list stating pieces, weight, dimensions, cargo nature and the transit time required. Goodhope Freight matches the volume to narrowbody belly space or a freighter charter and confirms space and the arrival hub with the carrier. Once space is confirmed, pickup at the Chinese gateway, palletising, export clearance and handover are arranged. After transit through a Middle East or East African hub the cargo lands in Khartoum or Port Sudan, where the shipper arranges clearance and collection. For large equipment on engineering contracts, Goodhope Freight can hold charter space against the project schedule and help with temporary import and export and the special declarations that aid cargo requires.

08 / SPECIAL SERVICES

Humanitarian relief and special cargo

Badr Airlines has a long operating record in humanitarian transport, regularly flying for United Nations humanitarian coordination bodies, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the United Nations Office for Project Services, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Rescue Committee, carrying food, drinking water, medical supplies, tents and general relief equipment. For Chinese aid and cooperation projects, such as the FAO poverty and farming programme run with the Chinese government in Red Sea State, Sudan, which moves seed, farm implements and fishing gear by air, the carrier has relevant experience.

On special cargo, freighter charters take construction machinery, vehicle chassis, steel structures and outsized equipment, while narrowbody belly space takes general cargo under the carrier's acceptance rules. For temperature-controlled cargo, live animals and lithium batteries, the aircraft type and sector acceptance conditions must be confirmed before booking, with the supporting test reports and declarations supplied in advance. Dangerous goods must be consigned under the ICAO Technical Instructions, and Goodhope Freight can help prepare the testing, packing and declaration documents.

09 / CONTACT IN CHINA

Contacting Badr Airlines in China

Badr Airlines has no publicly listed office in China; contact its local agent in China or ask Goodhope Freight to make the connection. The carrier is headquartered in Khartoum, Sudan, and handles outside enquiries through its website badrairlines.com and regional sales channels. Chinese shippers who need to book, request a rate or confirm a schedule can ask Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited to raise the request, and Goodhope Freight will confirm space, rate and arrival hub with the carrier and its authorized agent and report progress back.

10 / FAQ

FAQ

Badr Airlines nonstop cargo from China to Sudan

As of the compilation of this airline profile, Badr Airlines has no scheduled nonstop freighter service from China. Cargo shipped from Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other gateways connects through hubs such as Dubai, Sharjah or Addis Ababa into the Khartoum and Port Sudan dual-hub network, then moves on to Sudanese and secondary East African and Middle Eastern cities. The routing and connecting space are confirmed by the carrier on the day of booking.

Country coverage on the Badr Airlines network

Its own network reaches major cities in Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, distributing through the Khartoum and Port Sudan hubs. For Chinese shippers the relative strength is Sudan itself and the East African interior, with the Middle East reachable onward via Jeddah, Doha, Dubai and Sharjah.

Badr Airlines freighter types and belly capacity

The passenger side is built around Boeing 737-300, 737-500 and 737-800 narrowbodies, using belly space for loose and palletised or containerised cargo. The cargo side operates Ilyushin Il-76TD and Antonov An-26 and An-74 freighters on heavy, outsized and humanitarian charter work. No consolidated public figures are available for narrowbody belly volume and payload, and charter payload on the freighters is set per flight at booking.

Booking channels for Badr Airlines from China

Badr Airlines has no publicly listed office in China; contact its local agent in China or ask Goodhope Freight to make the connection. Shippers can ask Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited to handle quoting, booking, consolidation and export clearance, with Goodhope Freight confirming space and arrival hub with the carrier and its authorized agent.

Shipping arrangements under the current situation in Sudan

Since 2023 the situation in Sudan has affected operations into Khartoum, with part of the capacity shifting toward Port Sudan. At booking, confirm whether the flight actually lands in Khartoum or Port Sudan and whether the destination city can be reached overland; for time-critical project cargo, allow a margin for transit and rerouting. Operating status follows the carrier's later notices and confirmation on the day of booking.

A corridor for contract and aid project cargo

Yes. Badr Airlines has long carried supplies for the United Nations system and international aid agencies and has experience airfreighting food, medical supplies, tents, farm implements and construction equipment. Chinese agricultural aid and reconstruction project cargo for Sudan can be consolidated at a Chinese gateway by Goodhope Freight and flown on the carrier's belly space or a freighter charter.

Documents to prepare for shipping with Badr Airlines through Goodhope Freight

The basic documents are the shipping instruction, commercial invoice, packing list and export declaration papers; dangerous goods, temperature-controlled or live cargo also need the corresponding test certificates and declarations. Once the shipper gives us the cargo details, we handle palletising, export declaration, booking and transit connections at the origin as one operation, and the shipper arranges clearance and collection at destination as instructed.

Connecting to the Badr Airlines Sudan and East Africa network with Goodhope Freight

Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited specializes in international air freight from China to Africa and can compare space on Badr Airlines against other African carriers on a factual basis, coordinating Chinese export clearance, consolidation and palletising, transit connections, and destination clearance and collection. The shipper supplies the cargo details and transit time required; Goodhope Freight follows the booking and handling from there.

Goodhope Freight

https://goodhope86.com

Shenzhen, China · air freight agent for Africa

Disclaimer

This airline profile was produced by Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited (Goodhope Freight). Airline names, codes and brand marks mentioned belong to their respective owners, and the company has no ownership, agency or investment relationship with the carriers described. Information is compiled from public sources for reference only and does not form a contract of carriage or a commitment. Space, rates and schedules are subject to confirmation by the carrier and its authorized agent at the time of booking; conditions in Sudan and airport availability can change at short notice, so the arrival hub and ground connections must be rechecked with the carrier before dispatch.

Contact details

Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited; official website: https://goodhope86.com.

Trademark notice

Badr Airlines and the names, trademarks and codes of the other airlines mentioned belong to their respective owners; The material is provided to describe freight services only.