The Houthis, part of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, have accused Saudi authorities of violating an agreement to resume flights from rebel-held Sanaa. According to Khaled Al-Shayef, Director of Sanaa's airport, Saudi aviation authorities forced a Yemenia Airways plane flying from Sanaa to Jordan to turn back when it entered Saudi airspace. Speaking to Houthi-owned Al Masirah TV, Al-Shayef claimed the plane was denied permission to cross the kingdom's airspace, forcing it to return.
He stated there was no reason for Saudi Arabia to block the plane's transit and argued this action violated a recent agreement between the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government, which included the resumption of flights from Sanaa.
However, the Al Mashad portal reported that the flight had violated the agreed time slot for crossing Saudi airspace. The plane was scheduled to depart Sanaa at 08:00 local time but left two hours early without coordination with other control centers. After returning to Sanaa, the plane successfully completed the flight according to the scheduled time.
In July 2023, an agreement between the Yemeni government and the Houthis was signed to lift banking restrictions and resume Yemenia Airways flights from Sanaa to Jordan, Egypt, and India. The flights were intended to occur three times daily.
Conflict in Yemen
The conflict in Yemen has been ongoing since August 2014, with government forces battling supporters of the Ansar Allah movement. In March 2015, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened, intensifying the conflict. In April 2022, the parties agreed to a truce, which expired in October of that year, though negotiations have continued.
Yemenia Airways resumed flights between Sanaa and Amman in April 2022 following the truce. However, in October 2023, Reuters reported that the airline planned to suspend these flights in response to the Houthis blocking the national carrier's funds in banks located in Sanaa.
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Based on materials from TASS