Barran Press
Yemeni Airways announced on Sunday, September 15th, 2024, that they have scheduled an additional flight on the Aden-Cairo-Aden route to accommodate stranded passengers from the "Queen Balqis" airline.
"Mohsen Haidara," the commercial director of Yemeni Airways, stated in a press release published by the official Saba news agency that the flight, scheduled for Tuesday, September 17th, is in line with directives from the Ministry of Transport and the Yemeni Airways board of directors.
Haidara explained that the flight will depart from Aden at 4:00 PM local time and leave Cairo for Aden at 8:30 PM Cairo time.
He urged all stranded passengers to contact Yemeni Airways offices in Cairo to arrange bookings and facilitate their return home.
On September 5th, the Ministry of Transport, in a joint statement with the General Authority of Civil Aviation, declared they would not allow the operation of any airline lacking safety standards and potentially endangering passengers' lives.
However, on September 7th, Prime Minister "Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak," recognized by the international community, issued a directive to allow "Queen of Sheba" airline, owned by businessman "Ahmed Saleh Al-Eisi," to resume flights until the end of the year.
This directive, addressed to Minister of Transport "Abdeslam Hamid," who is aligned with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), was attributed to the "congestion of passengers at Cairo International Airport due to the company's failure to renew its license and the suspension of its flight permits."
On September 7th, "Queen Balqis" airline issued a statement accusing the Ministry of Transport, the General Authority of Civil Aviation, and the Meteorological Authority of deliberately halting their operations, labeling the suspension as a crime.
On September 10th, Minister of Transport "Abdeslam Hamid" instructed the chairman of the board of Yemeni Airways to transport stranded passengers from "Queen Balqis" in Cairo and Jeddah at their own expense, contradicting prior directives from the Prime Minister and the Presidential Council to allow "Queen Balqis" to continue operations until the end of the year.
For the past 19 days, hundreds of Yemeni travelers, many of them patients, have been stranded at Cairo and Jeddah airports in difficult circumstances.