Yemen Airways planes carried 609 foreign nationals Socotra Island to Jeddah, marking the end of a weeklong effort to move stranded visitors out, concluding an operation that began when the UAE withdrew its forces from the Island and Yemen.
The breakdown of air service left several hundred visitors—including Americans, Russians, Poles, and Italians—stuck on the archipelago after carriers linked to the UAE halted operations from and to the Island.
Although Socotra sits more than 300 kilometers south of Yemen’s coastline and has largely been insulated from the fighting, access depended heavily on UAE-backed aviation routes that were suspended as tensions escalated.
Officials said the sudden grounding created a bottleneck that required a mix of chartered flights, diplomatic clearances, and coordination with Saudi Arabia to move tourists out.
Yemeni officials described the departures as an important step in resolving the disruption that began when visitors found themselves unable to leave.