Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Yemen Airways has announced the suspension of all flights to and from Sanaa International Airport until further notice, just hours after the airport was rendered inoperative by heavy Israeli airstrikes.
Sources in Sanaa reported that the Israeli assault completely destroyed the passenger terminal at Sana’a International Airport, including both departure and arrival halls, as well as three Yemen Airways aircraft that were parked on the apron.
Meanwhile, sources also stated that Yemeni travelers are stranded at Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan and other airports, uncertain about their fate—especially those who had already completed exit procedures and now require new visas to re-enter.
Earlier, a source told Yemen Monitor that Israeli airstrikes on Sunday evening destroyed two civilian planes that had been illegally held by the Houthi group.
The source added that “the Houthis had rejected Yemen Airways’ request to relocate the aircraft to Oman just hours before the bombing.”
The Houthis had previously seized three aircraft belonging to Yemen Airways, despite repeated appeals by the airline’s board of directors for local, regional, and international efforts to pressure the group into releasing the aircraft and unfreezing the company’s financial assets.
On June 26 of last year, Yemen Airways accused the Houthi group—designated a “terrorist” organization—of detaining three planes that had been transporting Yemeni pilgrims from Jeddah to Sanaa, as well as withholding more than $120 million of the company’s funds in Sanaa for over a year.
