Deal Reached to Allow Yemen’s Sanaa Airport to Reopen

Saudis will let Houthi passport holders travel

Efforts to take the ongoing Yemen ceasefire and use it to improve travel and aid delivery continue apace, with two more fuel ships arriving at the port of al-Hodeidah. Unlike the previous ship delivery, these ships were allowed through by the Saudis without a delay.

That’s a nice step forward, and an even bigger one may be coming, as the Saudis and pro-Saudi officials have agreed to allow Yemenis with passports issued by the Houthis to travel, a deal which is set to resume commercial airline travel from Sanaa’s airport.

Yemen’s pre-war capital, Sanaa is home to a substantial international airport, though it has been shuttered off and on as the Saudis have attacked the runways and prevented flights.

The ability to get people in and out of Sanaa, the de facto capital of the Houthis, is a big step forward for potential peace talks. The airport being reopened would allow the appropriate diplomats to attend meetings abroad, and mean the Houthis would be less reliant on indirect talks.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.