Yemeni guests travelling back home as airports reopen

AMMAN – Dozens of Yemenis were buying tickets on Sunday to return home as their national carrier resumed flights to Aden and Sanaa. 

Speaking to The Jordan Times at the offices of Yemenia Airways in Amman, several Yemenis said they had been stranded in Jordan for nearly six months, since the start of fighting between the government and Houthi militias supported by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. 

Mazen Saif said he was returning to Sanaa as the airline resumed Sunday its flight to his country’s capital city. 

Saif, who works in an Amman restaurant, said he has not visited his family for over a year, indicating that he will be leaving to Sanaa on Thursday. 

After booking a ticket to Aden, Aysha Abdul Jalil said she had waited for months for a chance to be among her loved ones after the forced absence. 

“I came to Amman early this year to accompany my husband during his stay for medical treatment,” she said. 

According to Hatem Shaabi, area manager of Yemenia Airways, there will be two flights a week between Amman and Sanaa and another two flights to Adan. 

Shaabi noted that hundreds of Yemenis had been stuck in Jordan for months as Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting rebels stopped the airline from flying to Yemen due to security reasons.  

Asked if it was safe to return to Sanaa, Saif said that government forces are advancing in the fight against militias and the airport is currently safe for landing. 

Authorities estimate the number of Yemenis who reside in Jordan at around 30,000. 

Also in recent months, a number of wealthy Yemenis resorted to the Kingdom to start investment projects, according to business leaders, who said that well-off Yemenis also bought residential apartments in Amman.