Transport in Yemen - Civil Aviation and Airports

Civil Aviation and Airports

Yemen has 46 airports, 16 of which have paved runways. Of the 46 airports, 5 are international: Aden International, Sanaa International, Taizz, Rayyan, and Al Hudaydah. A major reconstruction and expansion of Aden International was completed in 2001, including a new runway that can handle large, long-haul aircraft. Plans to make that airport a regional cargo hub, with an "air cargo village" by 2004 appear to have failed. Although construction began in January 2003, by the end of the year the managing company had dissolved.

Yemenia is the national airline; in 1996 it absorbed South Yemen, the former national carrier. It is expected that Yemenia, which is currently 49 percent owned by the Saudi Arabian government and 51 percent owned by the Yemen government, will eventually be privatized, but there has been resistance from the Saudis. In 2001 the airline carried 858,000 passengers. Because the airline’s existing fleet of 12 airplanes is rapidly becoming outdated, in 2002 three new aircraft were leased for eight years, and in early 2006 the airline announced plans to acquire six new aircraft, with options for an additional four, beginning in 2012.