I flew over Port Sudan a few days ago, and it looked normal enough from above (9,000 feet), although I have no idea at all what the situation was on the ground. I heard some other aircraft on the tower frequency but did not see them.
I couldn't see Asmara due to cloud underneath, but heard a few aircraft coming and going to that airport on the center/tower frequency.
Have you considered going down the other side of the Red Sea (the Saudi side)? I was not very impressed with my one fuel stop in Egypt (Sharm el Sheik) - had a 100 passenger bus come out to meet me to transport me to the terminal 50 yards away, and was told that payment for the bus was "not optional" - that's a standard trick in Egypt. I don't know if Saudi would be better, but it's hard to imagine it would be worse.
Michael
Sharm el Sheik - Ya gotta pay for it, even if you didn't ask for it.
