The first commercial flight from Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital to Saudi Arabia took off on Saturday (June 17), carrying Hajj pilgrims for the first time since 2016, the latest sign of easing tensions after years of war.
A Yemenia Airways plane with 277 passengers on board left around 8 p.m., seven years after the blockade of Sanaa International Airport by the Saudi-led military coalition fighting Houthi rebels, backed by Iran. This coalition controls all of Yemen’s air and sea space, including rebel-held areas. “I hope the blockade will end and the airport will remain open. We are very happy and relieved, and I can’t describe the feeling.”said Mohammad Askar, one of the Yemeni pilgrims.
The flight to Jeddah is the first since Sanaa airport was closed by the military coalition in August 2016, more than a year after the start of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign to root out the Houthis. Two more flights are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, officials said. Houthi public works minister Ghaleb Mutlaq estimated around 200 flights would be needed for the 24,000 people who want to make the pilgrimage.
“We consider what is happening today as a good gesture, so that the airports, in particular that of Sanaa, are open to Yemeni travelers”another Houthi minister, Najeeb Al-Aji, told reporters.
One of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world
Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the fighting or from indirect causes, such as lack of food or water, in what the United Nations considers one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises.
Despite coalition bombing and ground fighting, the Houthis, who took control of Sanaa in 2014, ousting the internationally recognized government, rule large swathes of the country. The fighting has largely ceased since the UN brokered a truce a year ago, although that officially ended in October 2022.
In recent months, diplomatic initiatives have raised hopes for peace in Yemen, the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula, especially after the reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, ending seven years of rivalry in the Middle East. Since the thaw began in March, Ryad has reconnected with Syria, an ally of Tehran, and intensified its peace efforts in Yemen. In April, a Saudi delegation traveled to Sanaa for talks aimed at reviving the truce and laying the foundations for a more durable ceasefire. Nearly 900 prisoners from both sides were also released in April as part of an agreement between the belligerents in Switzerland.