Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council says Aden airport operations halted

ISTANBUL

Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) said Thursday that operations at Aden International Airport in the country’s south have been suspended.

The STC-affiliated AIC channel claimed that Saudi Arabia halted domestic and international flights to and from Aden airport, leading to a complete suspension of operations at the facility.

The airport operates flights primarily to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, which operates under STC authority under a power-sharing arrangement with the internationally recognized government, condemned what it described as sudden Saudi measures, citing inspections of flights arriving from Aden to the kingdom.

The ministry said it has received a memo from the Saudi-led Arab coalition stating that all international flights must transit through Jeddah Airport for inspection before continuing to their destinations.

A senior government source, however, denied reports that the Yemeni authorities had issued directives to shut down the Aden airport.

The state news agency Saba, citing the source, said aviation authorities, in coordination with the Saudi-led coalition, applied “limited regulatory measures” for certain external destinations, without giving further details.

These measures “are part of de-escalation efforts,” he said.

Tension escalated in southern Yemen last month after the STC forces captured Hadramaut and Al-Mahra provinces in eastern Yemen after clashes with government forces. The two governorates together make up nearly half of Yemen’s land area.

Saudi Arabia accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of pushing the STC forces to carry out military operations along the kingdom’s southern border in Hadramout and Mahra. The UAE rejected what it called “allegations” and stressed its commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security.

On Tuesday, Yemen’s presidential council cancelled a joint defense agreement with the UAE and ordered all Emirati forces to leave Yemen within 24 hours and declared a 90-day state of emergency, citing what he described as “attempts to divide the country.”

The Emirati Defense Ministry later said it had completed the mission of its remaining counterterrorism teams in Yemen, adding that it ended its military presence in 2019 as part of the Saudi-led coalition.

The STC repeatedly claims that successive governments have politically and economically marginalized southern regions and calls for their separation from the north — claims rejected by the Yemeni authorities, as they insist on preserving the country’s territorial unity.