Yemeni travellers arrive in Jordanian capital on first passenger flight from Sanaa in six years

Travellers left Amman’s airport yesterday having arrived on the first commercial flight in six years to leave Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport.

Yemenia Flight 648 was the result of a truce struck on April 14 between the country’s internationally recognised government and the Iranbacked Houthi rebels.

Yemeni embassy staff waited for its 126 passengers in the Jordanian capital.

It issued the Yemeni citizens among them with papers to enter Jordan, which does not recognise the passports issued by the Houthis.

Each of the passengers had to obtain security clearance from the Jordanian authorities before leaving Sanaa, which was arranged by travel agents who charged from $60 to $100.

Among the passengers was a retired Yemeni general who lives in Sanaa and said he had come to Amman for treatment of an infection in his face.

“I am glad they [the Houthis] let me on the plane,” he said. “The way to survive in Sanaa is to lay low.”

Another passenger is a telecoms engineer travelling with his family on holiday.

He works at the Yemeni mobile operator Sabafon, which he said belonged to a merchant family and was largely taken over by Houthis.

“We used to go Cairo or Beirut every year for vacation but we have not travelled since the coronavirus pandemic began,” he said. “My kids could not wait to get out of Sanaa.”

Also waiting was Moaz, a Jordanian construction contractor who has a Yemeni partner in a project in Amman. “My partner’s friend is coming for treatment and he asked me to bring him from the airport. I do not know him,” said Moaz.

Erin Hutchinson, a Norwegian Refugee Council official in Yemen, said the flight from Sanaa was a “stepping stone towards a lasting peace” in the country.

The flight was initially scheduled to take place last month, before the plan was suspended when Yemenia said it did not receive the necessary permits.

The plane touched down at Queen Alia International Airport yesterday at 11.40am Amman time.

Jordan was a popular destination for travellers from Yemen, Iraq and Libya seeking medical treatment before entry requirements were tightened.

About 14,000 Yemeni asylum seekers are in Jordan but the kingdom is also home to Yemenis who study at university or own small businesses.

Yemen’s Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak said the resumption of flights from Sanaa took the co-operation “of our brothers in Jordan”.

The development will “alleviate the suffering of our people, which will remain our first concern and priority”, he said last month.

Flight 648 was made possible by a truce between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government