Rada Airlines IL-62 EW-450TR flies multiple flights out of Mombasa

Rada Airlines IL-62 EW-450TR flew since February 13, 2025 multiple flights out of Mombasa, Kenya to an yet unknown destination. Based on the route the destination is likely D’Djamena in Chad. Later also sistership EW-505TR flew this route.

The series of flights started at February 13 with a departure from Mombasa towards the northwest. Flightradar24 stopped tracking when the aircraft was near Lake Albert. When the route from Mombasa is extended you end up in N’Djamena. At February 14 the aircraft returned to Mombasa. It departed Mombasa at Feb 15, returned at Feb 16. Departed again towards northwest at Feb 17 and returned from the same direction at February 18. In the early morning of February 19 the aircraft departed Mombasa heading towards N’Djamena.

This route was repeated for almost every day. Untill February 27. The aircraft then flew from N’Djamena to Benghazi in Libya. At February 28 the aircraft continued to Tekirdag in Turkey. This is home of the Bayraktar drone factory. At March 1 EW-505TR flew from Tekirdag to an unknown destination in southern Algeria, possibly Tamanrasset.

At March 2 the aircraft flew from likely Tamanrasset to Mombassa. At March 4 the pattern of flights started again with a flight Mombassa to N’Djamena. The next day the aircraft returned to Mombassa. This repeated until March 18. After the stop at N’Djamena the aircraft flew to Benghazi and then to Belarus. Not for long! At March 20 the aircraft flew from Orsha to Cairo. March 21 the aircraft flew to Bangui in CAR. Russian mercenaries are active in CAR. After delivery of the cargo in Bangui the aircraft returned via Cairo to Vitebsk in Belarus where it arrived March 24.

In the meanwhile IL62 freighter EW-505TR flew at March 7 from Belarus to Mombasa. At March 15 the aircraft flew to N’Djamena, returning the next day. This repeated almost every day. At March 23 the aircraft departed Mombassa to Benghazi. After a stop EW-505TR flew to Beida in Libya. At March 24 the aircraft returned at Mombassa.

For an unknown reason flightradar24 only shows the flight of February 13 as the last flight. This had callsign RDA3912. The other flights are not listed by FR24. However these took place.
Also interesting to note is that the callsign of the aircraft is just R or no callsign at all.

The purpose of these flights is unknown. It is not uncommon for cargo aircraft to fly from Mombasa to N’Djemena. Egypt airline Sky Vision Airlines flew dozens of times this route since September 2024 with Airbus A320 SU-SKF.

Rada Airlines however is notorious for transporting weapons and ammunition. In November 2025 the same aircraft flew multiple times between Belarus and Benghazi. Benghazi is the city in which Haftar has its base. Haftar is fighting against the Tripoli based official government. Russia, Belarus and UAE are some of the states supporting Haftar.
President Ruto of Kenya supports the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti, the Sudanese paramilitary leader. ). RSF is also supported by UAE.

Rada Airlines is listed on the SDN List. Doing business with Rada Airlines is a US crime.

The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, and international criminals (e.g. drug traffickers). The SDN list contains tens of thousands of individuals and entities that have been identified as posing threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy

In 2023 an airbridge between UAE and N’Djamena was flown by many IL-76 aircraft. Extremely likely transporting weapons and ammunition to RSF forces in Sudan.

In 2024 president Ruto flew on a Boeing 737 BBJ registered A6-RJU from Nairobi to the United States. Almost of all the costs of leasing the aircraft were paid by the UAE.