By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The U.N.'s World Food Programme onTuesday said it was cutting back its humanitarian air servicesin Sudan due to a $48 million (25 million pounds) fundingshortfall.
Aid agencies said the reductions would seriously underminetheir work in some of the most remote and hostile corners ofthe country, particularly Darfur and south Sudan.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said it was cutting one ofits six helicopters and two of its 18 airplanes -- all used toferry aid workers and supplies around Africa's largest country.
The agency said it would also more than double the chargesfor helicopter flights, reduce the number of flights fromKhartoum and consider cutting the service further in July tocope with the funding gap.
"The measures announced today are aimed to keep vitalservices going for longer, while we wait for new funding to beconfirmed," said Kenro Oshidari, the WFP's representative inSudan. "Undoubtedly, this is a blow to the humanitarian effortin Sudan."
Aid groups said the move would hit their ability to reachsome areas of Sudan where communities are struggling to copewith decades of conflict, poor harvests and underfunded healthservices.
"Any cuts like this have a huge impact on our work," saidAlun McDonald, spokesman for the charity Oxfam in Sudan.
"Just in Darfur, we use this service every day. The bigworry is that this could be the first step and we could seefurther cuts ... That would be disastrous."
McDonald said Oxfam had to rely on the U.N. air service toreach some parts of Darfur because a surge of bandit attackshad made it too dangerous to travel by road. The looming rainyseason would make travelling by land even harder, he added.
The WFP halved its deliveries of emergency food aid toDarfur from May because so many of its convoys were beingattacked by armed groups.
The U.N. agency said on Tuesday it had already cut one ofits helicopters and would stop using the two aircraft from June19. The price of its helicopter flights would rise to $100 from$40 from July 1, it added.
WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella said the WFP might be ableto replace its helicopter and give the two airplanes a reprieveif it received $20 million by Sunday. But, although the agencydid have some pledges in the pipeline, they still fell short ofthat amount, she added.
The air service, which last year also carried out 267security and medical evacuations in Sudan, still needed toraise $48 million out of its budget for 2008 of $77 million,she said.
The WFP had warned it might have to close its Sudanese airservice down altogether earlier this year, but receiveddonations from a string of donors including Not On Our Watch, acharity co-founded by Hollywood actors George Clooney, BradPitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle.
