Yemeni Pilgrims Board First Flight from Sanaa to Saudi Arabia in Seven Years

The plane carried Yemeni pilgrims en route to the coastal city of Jeddah.

"This is the first commercial flight from Sanaa airport to Saudi Arabia directly since its closure in 2016," an anonymous source at the airport confirmed to Anadolu. The source preferred not to be named, citing lack of authorization to speak to the media.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on Thursday that it would facilitate the arrival of Yemeni pilgrims via the Sanaa airport. The Hajj pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca, Islam's holiest site, is mandatory for Muslims who possess the means.

Since 2016, a coalition has maintained a blockade on the Sanaa airport as part of its campaign against the country. However, in 2022, the airport resumed operations with flights to the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states.

The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.

While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Amid United Nations efforts to resolve the conflict, war-torn Yemen is currently experiencing a state of deescalation after nine years of fighting.