Houthis seek to confiscate Yemenia's funds

Yemen’s state-run carrier has suspended the only air route out of the country’s rebel-held capital to protest Houthi restrictions on its funds, officials said Sunday.

Yemen Airways canceled its commercial flights from Sanaa’s international airport to the Jordanian capital of Amman. The airline had been operating six commercial and humanitarian flights a week between Sanaa and Amman as of the end of September.

Iran-backed Houthis have prevented the Yemenia plane from taking off from Sanaa Airport in a bid to compel the national airline to reverse its decision to suspend flights to Amman.

A Yemeni government official announced that the Houthi militia seized a plane en route to Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, shortly after the company announced that it would suspend the only international flight from Sanaa Airport due to the Houthis’ ban on the use of its funds in Sanaa-based banks.

The official added that the company needs its $80 million in the Houthi-controlled banks to pay salaries, maintenance, and other operational expenses, as well as installments for recently purchased aircraft.

“The company faces significant financial obligations, such as payments and purchasing two new aircraft. The Houthi group has rejected all settlement proposals for this dispute,” the Yemeni official said.

The official added that the funds had “increased from $70 million to more than $80 million. More than 70 percent of the company’s revenue comes from Sanaa.”

They said: “However, Yemenia now pays for its travels with revenues from its southern and eastern governorates’ offices. The group wants to confiscate the amount.”

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and forced the government into exile. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try restore the government to power.