Yemenia restarts direct flights from Sanaa to Kingdom to help pilgrims

SMA NEWS – SANA’A
Yemen’s national airline will recommence direct flights from Houthi-controlled Sanaa to Saudi Arabia on Saturday after a break of eight years to help Yemeni pilgrims travel to the Kingdom.

The flights will link Sanaa with Jeddah and Madinah, Yemenia Airways said.

The Yemeni government said that 30,000 pilgrims had already entered Saudi Arabia, mostly through the Wadea border, with about 2,600 traveling by plane.

Yemenia said earlier it would double the number of its flights between Sanaa and Amman to six per week. The UN’s special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, applauded the decision and urged all parties to do more to facilitate the movement of Yemenis out of and within the country.