Shutdown of Aden airport underscores deepening rift among Saudi-UAE coalition

On Jan 1, 2026 6:20 PM

ADEN, Jan. 01 (YPA) – In a new escalation step, the Saudi-led coalition completely stopped on Thursday navigation activity at Aden International Airport in southern Yemen.

This sudden move confused travel traffic, revealing the depth of the conflict inside the coalition camp, especially against the backdrop of escalating tensions with the UAE in southern and eastern Yemen.

The Saudi decision led to cancelling all local and international flights to and from Aden airport, leaving hundreds of Yemeni travelers stranded inside and outside Yemen, where dozens were stuck at regional and international airports, most notably Cairo International Airport, including transit passengers, in addition to travelers en route to Djibouti.

According to navigation and media sources, Aden airport witnessed a complete shutdown and complete paralysis of air traffic, following direct Saudi directives imposing new stringent measures on flights, in a move described as punitive rather than regulatory.

The sources explained that Saudi Arabia stipulated that all aircraft arriving and departing from Aden must be subjected to pre-inspection at Jeddah and Riyadh Airports, in preparation for the reintroduction of the old inspection mechanism imposed with the beginning of the war on Yemen on 2015, which previously required inspections at Bisha Airport before being replaced by Jeddah and Riyadh.

The restrictions went further, with the new measures requiring airlines to submit full passenger manifests and detailed personal data 48 hours prior to departure, under the guise of security checks.

This has further complicated travel procedures and effectively made the resumption of flights contingent on political considerations rather than internationally recognized aviation standards.

This sudden measure has almost brought civil aviation to a standstill, raising serious humanitarian and economic concerns, especially as Aden airport represents Yemen’s only operational air gateway for patients, students, expatriates and humanitarian cases, in a country already suffering from one of the worst crises in the world.

Observers believe that the decision reflects the use of Aden airport as a political pressure tool in the struggle for influence within the coalition, while ordinary Yemenis bear the cost of these calculations, who were left stuck between airports and deprived of their most basic right to travel and freedom of movement.