US welcomes Sanaa's first commercial flight in six years
The Jordan-bound flight on Monday came as part of a UN-brokered truce struck in April.
The Biden administration on Monday welcomed the news of a commercial flight departing from Yemen’s airport in Sanaa, which marked the first time in almost six years that a passenger plane departed from the rebel-held airport.
The Yemenia Airways flight left the Sanaa airport just after 9 a.m. local time. The Amman, Jordan-bound flight was carrying some 130 passengers, including patients seeking medical treatment abroad.
The Houthi-controlled airport has been closed to commercial traffic since the Saudi-led coalition, which controls Yemen’s airspace, intervened in the country’s civil war in 2015.
“The United States welcomes today’s flight,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “We hope it will enable Yemenis to travel to see loved ones, seek medical care and find respite from the conflict.”
