The Minister of Transport, Abd al-Wahhab Yahya al-Durra, said that the flights from Sana'a Airport to Cairo and India were approved, scheduled, and canceled at the last minute with the complicity of the leadership of Yemeni Airways, which is the national carrier of the Republic of Yemen.

The Minister of Transport added: “Yemeni Airways is supposed to provide services to all Yemeni people without discrimination and from all airports of the Republic of Yemen, and every citizen has the right to travel from the nearest airport to his residence and city.”

He continued: “It is illogical for Yemenia to operate nine international destinations, on a regular and daily basis from some Yemeni airports, in exchange for one destination for Jordan, for only three flights per week via Sana’a Airport, which leads to great pressure on travel reservations and great suffering for travelers in general and patients in particular, and the accumulation of passengers at the airport of ” Amman".

He also stressed the need for Yemeni Airways, as the national carrier, to operate with complete professionalism and impartiality, and to operate civil flights from Sana'a International Airport, similar to other local airports.

Minister Al-Durra called on Yemen Airways to provide clarifications to the public about the reasons for not operating the destinations of India and Cairo, despite their schedule.

He said: “Patience will run out, and the warnings of the revolutionary leadership and the Supreme Political Council are serious and clear to the Saudi-Emirati coalition of aggression in the event that work is not done in executing the humanitarian file and stopping its manipulation, since its execution is one of the top priorities that serve the Yemeni people and alleviate their suffering, including lifting the siege on Sana'a International Airport.

He also added, "We in the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation and Meteorological Authority have made full efforts to fill the pretexts that the aggression coalition and its mercenaries fabricate in order to operate flights from Sana'a Airport to Cairo and India."

And the Minister of Transport continued: “But to no avail, because the aggression coalition and the mercenaries inside Yemen continue to procrastinate and make flimsy excuses, so the scheduling of flights to Cairo and India was suspended at the last moments without any justification.”

He also renewed holding the aggression coalition fully responsible for the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen, especially the patients who are stranded and awaiting the opening of all destinations and airports.

And he added, "The truce and de-escalation do not fatten or satisfy hunger unless there is a complete opening of all land, air and sea ports, as they are of a civil and humanitarian nature."

The Minister of Transport stated that the number of civil flights that were carried out by Yemeni Airways between Sana’a and Queen Alia Airports of Jordan, since the start of the truce on April 2nd, 2022 until March 8th, 2023, amounted to 119 civil flights, during which approximately 60,000 passengers (arriving and departing) were transported, in addition to one flight  to Cairo on June 1st, 2022.

He also pointed out that 6,000 passengers were departing through Sana'a International Airport before the aggression per day, meaning that in ten days approximately 60,000 passengers were leaving to and from Sana'a airport, stressing that the truce did not alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni citizen.

The Minister of Transport concluded his statement by saying: "The benefit of this truce is that we have proven to the world and the international community the ability of the Yemeni engineering and technical cadres to rehabilitate Sana'a International Airport to receive all the commercial flights... Work is underway, God willing, to rehabilitate the rest of the airports."