Yemenia Airways announced Wednesday that Houthi Militia had seized four of its aircraft at Sanaa International Airport, threatening the safety of air navigation and making it difficult to operate flights to and from Yemen’s airports.
In a statement, Yemenia said that it was surprised that the militia seized three of its Airbus 320 aircraft, bringing the number of aircraft seized to four, noting that the Airbus 330 had been detained for more than a month.
The statement added that all planes were detained at Sanaa Airport the moment they arrived from King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah on special flights to transport hundreds of pilgrims returning from Holy Makkah after completing Hajj.
This direct route was launched by the company between Jeddah and Sanaa on June 20, it said, noting that the detention of these aircraft would affect the conduct of the national carrier’s flights and incur significant additional losses.
The reason for the detained planes at Sanaa Airport is due to persistent efforts to return about 8,400 pilgrims to Sanaa within a week, pointing out that there are thousands of pilgrims still in Saudi Arabia waiting for their turn to return to Sanaa and other Yemeni airports.
It explained that this irresponsible step came in light of the many difficulties that the leadership of Yemenia company faced with the Houthi militia, most importantly was the confiscation of its assets for more than a year, indicating that the company continued to avoid harm and ensured that it remains a national carrier.
Yemenia Airlines operated more than 100 flights from Sanaa to the Holy Land, back and forth, and covered all operational expenses for these flights from outside its accounts in Sanaa banks, despite the pilgrims’ revenues being deposited in the same accounts that have been frozen since March 8, 2023.
