Preparations are underway to reopen Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport, nearly six years after it closed to commercial flights.

Since 2016, the Saudi-led Arab coalition has halted air navigation at Sanaa airport with the exception of humanitarian flights belonging to the UN and other international organisations.

On Friday, April 1, the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced that the parties to the conflict have agreed to a two month, extendable truce, which began on Saturday evening, April 2.

The parties accepted to halt all offensive military air, ground and maritime operations inside Yemen and across its borders. They also agreed for fuel ships to enter Hudaydah ports and commercial flights to operate in and out of Sana’a airport, to predetermined destinations in the region.  

As per media reports, no date has been set for reopening the airport as it is still undergoing repairs to infrastructure and equipment.

Air travel to and from Sanaa will open the doors to life-saving medical treatment and long-awaited family reunification alongside providing a lifeline for millions of Yemenis in the north.

According to The National News, the Yemeni national airline’s US agent says that hundreds of citizens have been enquiring about the availability of tickets and the airport’s opening date, ever since the truce was announced.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, with the aim of restoring the government, but the conflict has long been mired in a deadlock. Saudi forces continue to launch air raids inside Yemen, and the Houthis launch drone, missile attacks on targets across the border in Saudi Arabia.

Tens of thousands of civilians have died as a result of the conflict, which according to the UN has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.