Bin Habtoor Calls on UN to Open Sana’a Airport on Ongoing Basis as Human Right

Prime Minister Abdulaziz bin Habtoor inspected the conditions of Sana’a International Airport and the efforts made by government agencies to fix the damage caused to it by the US-Saudi  aggression.

He heard from the Director General of the Airport, Khaled Al-Shayef, an explanation of the efforts made by the various concerned parties to rehabilitate Sana’a International Airport.

He pointed out to the continued intransigence and procrastination of the US-Saudi aggression regarding granting flight permits, which causes great burdens on travelers, especially patients coming from long distances.

He called on the UN to work on continuously reopening the airport to commercial aviation as a human right, while obligating the US-Saudi aggression during this period to respect truce agreement and to adhere to the conduct of commercial flights to the airport.

The Prime Minister noted the state of relief expressed by travelers and arrivals through the airport as a result of good treatment with them and facilitating their travel procedures, in addition to alleviating the hardship of traveling to Aden and Seiyun.

In early April, the UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced the nationwide ceasefire, for the first time since 2016, saying the two-month truce would be eligible for renewal with the consent of parties. The truce meant to halt all military operations in the country and to bring the foreign military invasion to an end.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the truce “must be a first step to ending Yemen’s devastating war,” urging the warring parties to build on the opportunity to “resume an inclusive and comprehensive Yemeni political process.”

The deal stipulates halting offensive military operations, including cross-border attacks, and allowing fuel-laden ships to enter Yemen’s lifeline al-Hudaydah port and commercial flights in and out of the airport in the capital Sana’a “to predetermined destinations in the region.”

The two-month humanitarian and military truce under the auspices of the United Nations entered into effect on the second of last April and ends on the second of June 2022. Over the past weeks, the forces of aggression have been obstructing the implementation of the truce, refusing to allow flights to reach Sana’a International Airport.

The humanitarian truce in Yemen provides for the operation of two commercial flights per week to and from Sana’a Airport during the two months of the truce to Jordan and Egypt.

The Civil Aviation and Meteorological Authority called on the United Nations to “adhere to the provisions of the truce by operating the 16 agreed-upon flights during the remainder of the truce, to alleviate the suffering of Yemeni citizens.”