On 21 June 2008, Sudan's Civil Aviation Authority issued a directive grounding the entire fleet of Sudan Airways for a month for  non compliance with aviation and operational/administration regulations. Although it stated grounding has nothing to do with Sudan Airways' safety record or the Sudan Airways Flight 109 crash on 10 June 2008.

Also a 2008 report by the U.S. Department of State advised American citizens against flying on Sudanese airlines, citing enforcement of safety standards in the country was "uneven."

Subsequently  on 30 March 2010, the European Union issued a blanket ban all Sudan based airlines from operating into the member states citing "on the basis of safety assessments by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)".

As a response Sudan's acting Civil Aviation Authority director Al-Hafiz Abdullah stated that "there are no EU bound flights operating in Sudan". Abdullah stressed that his agency "adheres to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and outlined several changes introduced to the structure of the civil aviation administration and boosting budget allocated to air safety".