Sana’a: Urgent Need to Open Sana’a International Airport to All Destinations

The Minister of Transport, Abdulwahhab Al-Durra, Minister of Public Works and Roads, Ghaleb Mutlaq, jointly emphasized the need to take urgent measures to open Sana’a International Airport to all destinations, as it is a right guaranteed by all international charters, agreements, and human rights.

This came during their meeting, Sunday, in Sana’a, with the Director of the Office of the UN Envoy to Yemen, Roxana Bazarjan.

The meeting touched on delay in opening multiple destinations, increasing the number of civil flights to Jordan and the level of humanitarian operation of Sana’a International Airport.

The Minister of Transport pointed out that the opening of Sana’a International Airport is a humanitarian demand and a legal right for people of Yemen.

He pointed out that the people of Yemen suffer from a lack of humanitarian flights to transport patients and travelers stranded in countries and airports, and they are forced to travel through difficult and unsafe roads.

He stressed that the failure to lift the siege on Sana’a International Airport and open all destinations is aimed to continue the suffering of the Yemeni people to achieve political and negotiating purposes at the expense of humanitarian and human rights issues.

He pointed to the need to open new destinations and increase trips to meet the increasing demand for patients, humanitarian cases, and pilgrims.

Minister of Public Works and Roads pointed out the importance of Sana’a International Airport as it provides special humanitarian services to patients.

The Director of the Office of the UN Envoy stressed the need to increase the number of flights to Jordan to meet the increasing demands and humanitarian cases.

For his part, the Director of Sana’a International Airport, Khaled Al-Shayef, confirmed that the non-operation of flights from Sana’a International Airport to the destinations agreed upon under the truce is due to political obstruction by the US-Saudi aggression.

“Only 84,000 passengers were transported during a year of the armistice, compared to 2 million passengers annually before the US-Saudi aggression,” he said.

He pointed out that 50 flights per day were going to Sana’a airport, in exchange for one destination to Jordan and 184 flights during a year of truce.

The  Undersecretary of Civil Aviation and Meteorology, Raed Jabal, confirmed that the US-Saudi aggression rejected the requests of Djibouti, Jordanian, Al-Saeeda airlines and other companies to operate flights to and from Sana’a International Airport.

He pointed out that there is approval by Cairo and New Delhi to operate flights to it, and the obstruction comes from the US-Saudi aggression by not allowing Yemenia or other carrier companies to operate these flights.

Recently, the Undersecretary of the Civil Aviation and Meteorology, Raed Jabal, affirmed that the aggression coalition has abandoned its humanitarian obligations in opening Sana’a International Airport to provide its services to the people of Yemen.

He pointed out that the aggression coalition continues to impose a siege on Sana’a airport, and refuses to allow it to operate in a manner that meets the actual need.

He also considered that the coalition of aggression, USA, Britain and France, renewed the closure of Yemeni airspace, indicates its intention to continue imposing the siege on the people of Yemen.

Jabal pointed out that the aggression coalition deliberately closes Sana’a International Airport to deprive the people of Yemen of their legitimate right to travel, which was guaranteed by international laws and agreements in light of the silence of the United Nations.

He called on international organizations and relevant authorities in the field of air transport to take a serious and effective stance to compel the aggression coalition to open the airports of the Republic of Yemen.