Yesterday evening we received a request for a security evacuation from Malakal. There has been fighting within the UN POC camp (Protection of Civilians) and the situation in the town is rather tense. This morning I went to the airport to prepare an aircraft for the flight while our Ops department continued to liaise with the charterer and tried to get the required permissions to fly.
For security reasons Malakal airport was not an option for the flight and the team were prepared to drive a couple of hours to another airstrip to the east along the Nile. We would need a security clearance to fly to that airstrip though and while we waited for the clearance I sat at the airport and waited at the aircraft.
Unfortunately the charterer was unable to get the clearance in time and so, at midday, we locked up the aircraft and returned home. Fortunately the team has a safe place to stay and we will see what we can do next week to get them down to Juba...
