Khartoum: Sudan has grounded its national carrier Sudan Airways from tomorrow because it says the airline does not meet international standards, a civil aviation official said on today.

"This decision will come into force tomorrow for an undefined period and will include both domestic and international flights," Hassan Saleh, an official with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told AFP.

There was no immediate comment from Sudan Airways. The decision comes less than two weeks after a Sudan Airways Airbus A310 with 14 passengers on board burst into flames on landing at Khartoum airport, and at least 30 people burned to death.

But the CAA said in a statement that the decision had nothing to do with the accident, and its director of safety Hassan al-Mujmmar said the airline had failed to take measures put in place by the authority in May.

Sudan Airways was therefore stripped of its license to operate flights until the measures are implemented, according to the statement.

The airline is 30 per cent owned by the state, majority ownership of 49 per cent having gone to the Kuwaiti Aref group a year ago. Sudan's Al-Fina group owns 21 per cent.

An official inquiry by the CAA and Sudan Airways has begun into the June 10 Khartoum crash, amid contradictory reports that either bad weather or technical failure were to blame.

Source : PTI