Yemen's Southern Transitional Council says Aden airport operations suspended
Yemeni authorities give conflicting accounts over airport restrictions.
Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) has said that operations at Aden International Airport in the south of the country 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.
Aden International Airport operates flights primarily to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, which operates under STC authority as part of a power-sharing arrangement with the internationally recognised government, condemned what it described as sudden Saudi measures.
The ministry cited inspections of flights arriving from Aden to the kingdom, saying it had received a memo from the Saudi-led Arab coalition requiring all international flights to transit through Jeddah Airport for inspection before continuing to their destinations.
A senior government source, however, denied reports that Yemeni authorities had issued directives to shut down the airport.
The state news agency Saba, citing the source, said aviation authorities, in coordination with the Saudi-led coalition, had applied what it described as "limited regulatory measures" for certain external destinations, without providing further details.
The measures were described as part of "de-escalation efforts," the source said.
Rising tensions
Tensions have escalated in southern Yemen in recent weeks after STC forces captured Hadramout and Al-Mahra provinces in eastern Yemen following clashes with government forces.
The two governorates together account for nearly half of Yemen’s land area.
Saudi Arabia accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of pushing STC forces to carry out military operations along the kingdom’s southern border in Hadramout and Al-Mahra.
The UAE rejected what it described as allegations and stressed its commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security.
On Tuesday, Yemen’s presidential council cancelled a joint defence agreement with the UAE and ordered all Emirati forces to leave Yemen within 24 hours.
It also declared a 90-day state of emergency, citing what it described as attempts to divide the country.
The Emirati Defence Ministry later said it had completed the mission of its remaining counterterrorism teams in Yemen, adding that it had ended its military presence in 2019 as part of the Saudi-led coalition.
The STC has repeatedly accused successive governments of politically and economically marginalising southern regions and continues to call for separation from the north, claims rejected by Yemeni authorities, who insist on preserving the country’s territorial unity.