Yemen Monitor/Sana’a/Exclusive:
For weeks, the Houthis have been relentless in their efforts to impose a new board of directors for Yemen Airways, while the current board refuses to cede any authority to the Houthis. The armed group is attempting to establish a parallel system for Yemeni aviation.
Since seizing three planes carrying pilgrims upon their arrival at Sana’a International Airport in June, the Houthis have issued multiple statements under the name of Yemenia Airlines.
A government source had indicated an agreement to return stranded pilgrims to Sana’a Airport, resume flights from Sana’a to Queen Alia Airport in Amman, Jordan, and return the planes to the Yemeni government. While the pilgrims were returned to Sana’a Airport, the Houthis on Monday reneged on the agreement by refusing to operate flights to the Jordanian airport and imposing a new schedule to India and Egypt.
A government source told “Yemen Monitor”: “The Houthis want to impose the new company’s board of directors in Sana’a on the countries and the coalition by implementing a schedule for new destinations that these countries refuse to deal with Sana’a Airport.”
In a statement on Monday, the Houthi-formed company’s management in Sana’a said the coalition “continues to completely close Sana’a International Airport and allocate seats for sale outside Yemen.”
A source in Sana’a had confirmed to “Yemen Monitor” that the Houthis had rejected the new flights to Jordan despite their scheduling.
In a previous statement, the Houthi administration said it only recognizes the board of directors that runs the airline from Sana’a and not from anywhere else!
Last Friday, a meeting of the company’s (legitimate) board of directors was held in Cairo, which included representatives of the company’s shareholders. A statement said: “To ensure that the company continues to serve Yemeni citizens and meet its high-cost operational obligations to domestic and foreign parties, and to enable the company to resell from all areas of Yemen without exception as before, it is necessary to release Yemenia Airlines aircraft and the company’s funds held and frozen in Sana’a banks.”
The Houthi pressure to impose their new airline management came a day after the group’s leader threatened “Sana’a Airport in charge of Riyadh Airport”. Houthi-affiliated media outlets then published a video showing aerial footage from drones and coordinates of important and prominent airports and ports in Saudi Arabia.
The video included images of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, as well as the ports of Ras Tanura, Jazan, and Jeddah.
Economic analyst Wafeeq Saleh said: “After seizing $100 million of Yemenia’s funds and detaining four planes at Sana’a International Airport, the Houthis are moving to fragment and tear the company apart by installing an illegitimate company management in Sana’a and trying to control the flight path to and from the airport, in addition to controlling the company’s funds that are still held in Sana’a banks.”
The Houthis have a history of parallel institutions since seizing the capital Sana’a in September 2014, from the presidency and forming the government to the rest of the state’s revenue-generating institutions, including the Central Bank of Yemen, the financial system, the national currency, and new customs that start from areas under their control.
