Domestic Flights Taking Place, No Radar or Navigation 

Domestic flights have begun taking place from the Kabul airport, though more work is required before international flights resume.

“Officially the airport is open. Over the past two days, we’ve repaired more than we expected,”  Muhammad Salim Saad, the Taliban commander in charge of airport security, said September 5th. 

“I want to assure all people that the airport is safe and secure,” Saad continued. He said the remaining technical problems should be fixed this week.

“There’s no radar, no navigation systems in place,” said Ghirlandaio Jailani Wafa, a top aviation official at the Kabul airport. He said a few domestic flights were able to resume after Qatari engineers set up temporary radio communications between air traffic controllers and pilots last week. But pilots have to navigate flights’ landing and takeoff visually.

It is likely that international commercial airlines will not resume flights before all systems are up and operational. International flights are key for those who are still on the ground trying to leave the country. 

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told CNN on September 5th that “around 100” Americans remain in Afghanistan. “We are going to find ways to get them — the ones that want to leave — to get them out of Afghanistan,” he said.

September 6th, in the mid-afternoon ABC reported that the State Department has facilitated the evacuation of four US citizens across one of Afghanistan’s land borders, the first Americans to leave the country with US Government help since the end of the evacuation efforts.

FMI: www.state.gov