Juba International Airport resumed normal operations on Monday afternoon after it had temporarily suspended some flights due to poor visibility resulting from heavy rains, an official said.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, the airport’s general manager, Kur Kuol Ajieu said heavy rains and flooding covered the 700 meters extension which was added to the 2,400 meters runway.
“When the rains came, the 700 meters added to the previous runway was already swept from the main runway. So, we were only using the 2,400 meters runway,” explained Ajieu.
He, however, said the flooding did not affect any of the flights.
“The flights were using the 2,400 meters runway, like Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Fly Dubai, Rwand Air and so on,” stressed Ajieu.
He noted that some flights were redirected to Entebbe Airport in Uganda on Monday morning due to heavy rains and poor visibility.
Kur said efforts were underway to ensure such incidents do not happen again.
Several families in Juba were rendered homeless after their houses were submerged by heavy rains that started early Monday morning.
Residents attributed the flooding to poor drainage systems in the capital Juba.
In July 2014, South Sudan government announced a runway extension project to extend the airport by 700 meters and resurface the existing 2,400 meters runway.