First flight in six years leaves Yemen

Sanaa – The first commercial flight in nearly six years took off from Yemen’s rebel-held capital yesterday, a major step forward in a peace process that has provided rare relief from conflict.

The Yemenia plane carrying 126 passengers, including hospital patients needing treatment abroad, took off from Sanaa for the Jordanian capital Amman just after 9am.

Sanaa’s airport has been closed to commercial traffic since August 2016 because of air strikes by the Saudi-led military coalition, who are fighting Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

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 Huthis seized the capital.

According to UN figures, more than 150 000 people have died in the violence and millions have been displaced.

But a truce has been in place since 2 April. 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.

Resuming flights from Sanaa, reopening roads to the rebel-besieged city of Taez and allowing fuel tankers into the Huthi-held port of Hodeida – a lifeline for Yemen – were all part of the truce agreement.

While fuel tankers have docked in Hodeida and flights have now resumed from Sanaa, the main routes into Taez remain cut off.

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

The government has agreed “during the armistice period to allow the Yemeni people who were held hostage to the [Huthis] the opportunity to travel through Sanaa airport, with passports issued by Huthi-controlled areas,” a Yemeni official said.