ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 4 — Yemenia Airways, Yemen’s national carrier, resumed commercial flights from Aden International Airport in the southern port city on Sunday following a three-day suspension, the country’s transport ministry said.
In a press statement, the ministry said the flights will initially operate exclusively from Aden, serving four regional destinations: Riyadh, Amman, Cairo and Jeddah.
An official at the airport told Xinhua that the resumption followed communications between the transport ministry and officials in Saudi Arabia. According to the ministry, Saudi Arabia recently ordered all international flights departing and entering Yemen to undergo security screenings at Jeddah Airport before continuing to their final destinations.
While some of those restrictions were later eased, they remain in place for all flights traveling to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is allegedly the main backer of the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
On Thursday, Yemen’s transport ministry rejected Saudi-imposed flight restrictions, saying the requirement for planes to stop in Saudi Arabia for security inspections constitutes an “air blockade” that undermines national sovereignty.
Yemen has witnessed an escalation of tensions within the Saudi-backed anti-Houthi alliance since December 2025, following the STC’s seizure of the oil-rich Hadramout governorate and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahrah.
Together, the two governorates comprise nearly half of Yemen’s landmass and share strategic borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Riyadh regards these areas as a critical “red line” due to their proximity to its southern border and their concentration of Yemen’s energy resources.
In response, Saudi Arabia threw its support behind the internationally recognized Yemeni government, launching a large-scale military operation marked by intensified air and ground strikes.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since 2014, when Houthi forces captured Sanaa and large swathes of the north, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015.
Formed in 2017, the STC seeks self-determination and eventual independence for southern Yemen. Despite joining the Saudi-led coalition and integrating into Yemen’s ruling Presidential Leadership Council in 2022, the group continues to push for southern sovereignty, leading to recurring disputes over power-sharing and control of resources. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
