Al-Shayef: Sanaa Int’l Airport damage estimated at $500 million
SANAA, May 08 (YPA) -The Director of Sanaa International Airport, Khaled Al-Shayef, revealed the heavy damages sustained by the airport as a result of the Zionist criminal aggression on Tuesday.
Al-Shayeif said that the enemy entity directly and hysterically targeted Sanaa airport, using highly destructive forbidden missiles, resulting in significant material losses.
He pointed out that the main runway was hit by four missiles, creating a large crater 20 meters deep, in addition to the targeting of the secondary runway with four missiles.
He confirmed that the Zionist enemy completely destroyed the arrival and departure halls, including their equipment, as well as the destruction of the General Administration Building for aircraft fueling, leveling it to the ground. The initial loss has been estimated at 500 million dollars, noting that a technical and legal team will arrive on Wednesday to assess the damages.
The Director of Sana’a International Airport also reported that the Zionist enemy caused the bombing of six passenger planes, including three belonging to Yemenia Airlines, an Airbus 320, and one of the 330 model, as well as one belonging to Saeeda Airlines. Yemenia Airlines now only has one plane left, which was in Jordan and is preparing to return to Sana’a.
He indicated that after the airport was targeted on December 26 of last year, the Ministry of Transport had prepared temporary alternatives for Sanaa airport, which will be announced soon, until the airport is rehabilitated, as it is completely out of service due to the Zionist aggression.
Al-Shayef condemned the pretexts presented by the Zionist enemy regarding the presence of missile platforms at Sana’a International Airport, emphasizing that such claims are false.
He clarified that the airport is a purely service facility that receives incoming and outgoing flights to and from Jordan, in addition to United Nations flights, which monitor all activities at the airport.
He added that the Yemeni Armed Forces have fortified mountain locations for those platforms, far from populated areas, making it difficult for the enemy to detect them.
He mentioned that the goal of bombing Sana’a International Airport is to further increase the suffering of the Yemeni people, destroy the country’s capabilities, deny thousands of patients the ability to travel abroad, and prevent pilgrims from traveling directly via Sanaa.
@E.Y.M