Arab Coalition asks UN to run Sanaa International Airport

SANAA - 11 August 2017: The coalition to restore legitimate Yemeni government called on the UN to run Sanaa International Airport, official Saudi news agency SPA reported on Thursday.

The move came after the commercial flights were banned from and to the airport.

Closing Sanaa airport and limiting it to relief efforts came as a precaution to ensure the safety of all inbound commercial and cargo flights, due to the Houthi armed militia’s attempts to smuggle arms into the country, the coalition said in a statement.

As a result, we have assigned airports in liberated, and safe cities as alternatives at the request of the Yemeni government. Thus, these precautionary measures should not be stigmatized as cause of suffering for Yemeni people, it added.

Yemen has been torn apart by a civil war in which the internationally recognized government, supported by the coalition, seeks to push back gains made by the Iran-aligned Houthi group.