Yemenia Struggles On As Civil War Continues To Rage

DOHA, Qatar—Yemen’s flag carrier, Yemenia, is being forced to overnight its aircraft outside the country as it seeks to husband its resources amid a recent upsurge of fighting in the country’s long-running civil war.

The conflict, which recently saw Saudi Arabia mounting air attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels as they advanced down Yemen’s west coast toward the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, has now passed the 12-year mark.

The internationally recognized Yemeni government has withdrawn to the southern port city of Aden, where Yemenia is now based at the airport.

The airline operates four Airbus A320s out of Aden to eight destinations: Cairo; Mumbai; Jeddah; Riyadh; Amman, Jordan; Dammam, Saudi Arabia; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Djibouti. It also flies two domestic routes, to Seiyun and Socotra Island, about 200 nm off the Yemeni coast.

The airline lost three A320neos and an A330 last year when Israel retaliated against Yemen for missiles launched by the Houthis against Tel Aviv.

Yemenia’s four remaining A320neos are flown out of the country every night to airports such as Cairo, Jeddah and Amman, Chairman Nasser Mahmoud Mohammed said Nov. 3 on the sidelines of the Arab Air Carriers’ Organization annual meeting in Doha. “We can’t overnight in Aden at all because of the situation,” he said.

The airline remains hopeful that the situation will improve sufficiently to allow it to receive aircraft from an order for eight A320neos that was placed as long ago as 2007 and delayed many times. Current plans are that Yemenia will start making down payments for the aircraft in 2028, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2031.

However, Mohammed acknowledged that the current unrest made it difficult to plan more than a few weeks in advance.

Yemenia currently faces competition from Djibouti Airlines, situated across the Bab al-Mandab Strait, plus occasional charter flights by Sudan’s Tarco Aviation.