First commercial flight leaves Yemen’s Sanaa to Amman

SANAA, Yemen (AA/AFP) – The first commercial flight in six years left Houthi-held Sanaa Airport on Monday to the Jordanian capital, Amman.

An airport source said 130 passengers were aboard the plane of flag carrier Yemenia, mostly patients seeking treatment in Jordan.

“This is the first commercial flight to take off from Sanaa Airport in six years,” the source told Anadolu Agency.

On Thursday, the Yemeni government said it agreed to commercial flights from Sanaa with passports issued by Houthi authorities.

Last month, Yemen’s warring rivals accepted a UN-brokered, two-month truce under which all military operations were halted.

The terms of the truce included the resumption of commercial flights from the rebel-held Sanaa Airport and the reopening of roads in the central city of Taiz, which had been closed by the rebels for years.

The Sanaa Airport had been closed for commercial flights since 2016 by the Saudi-led coalition, which accuses the rebels of using the airport for military purposes, an accusation denied by the Houthis.

Before take-off, the plane with red-and-blue tail livery taxied through an honour guard of two fire trucks spraying jets of water.

Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, has been wracked with war since the coalition stepped in to support the government in 2015, a year after the Houthis seized control of the capital.

According to UN figures, more than 150,000 people have died in the violence and millions have been displaced, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

But a truce has been in place since April 2, coinciding with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Five days after it took effect, Yemen’s Saudi-based president handed his powers to a leadership council tasked with holding peace talks with the rebels.

The inaugural flight under the truce was planned for April 24 from Sanaa to Amman but had to be scrapped after Yemenia said it did not receive the necessary permits.

Each side blamed the other for the hold-up, while United Nations special envoy Hans Grundberg called for a quick resolution to the impasse.

The Norwegian Refugee Council aid group said at the time that the inability to operate commercial flights out of Sanaa had stranded “tens of thousands of medical patients” seeking treatment abroad.

Last week Yemen’s government said it would allow citizens in rebel-held areas to travel on Houthi-issued passports, removing a barrier to the flights.