Preparations to Operate Int'l Flights from Eastern Yemen Begin

 A Yemeni Airlines flight lands at Al-Ghaydah International Airport coming from Al-Rayyan Airport in Mukalla. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A Yemeni Airlines flight lands at Al-Ghaydah International Airport coming from Al-Rayyan Airport in Mukalla. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Preparations to Operate Int'l Flights from Eastern Yemen Begin

 A Yemeni Airlines flight lands at Al-Ghaydah International Airport coming from Al-Rayyan Airport in Mukalla. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A Yemeni Airlines flight lands at Al-Ghaydah International Airport coming from Al-Rayyan Airport in Mukalla. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

A delegation from the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority visited Al-Ghaydah International Airport in Al-Mahra Governorate (eastern Yemen), in preparation for the launching of international flights to and from the airport, including trips for Yemeni pilgrims for this year’s Hajj season.
Flights were resumed in July 2023 when the Saudi Reconstruction Development Program for Yemen completed the rehabilitation of the airport, raising its efficiency and improving the quality of services provided to travelers and airlines, in accordance with the requirements of international navigation systems.
The project includes rehabilitating the airport buildings and units, equipping them with navigation (R-NAV) and communications systems that comply with International Civil Aviation Organization specifications, renovating the waiting, departure and inspection halls, and completing works for the fire, rescue and water unit at the airport, in addition to providing integrated lighting for the airport fence.
The project also provides many job and investment opportunities for residents, in addition to offering the necessary training and qualification for Yemeni cadres on the latest airport technologies, such as communications systems and modern fire fighting vehicles.
The Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen attaches great importance to the transportation sector as one of the important tributaries of Yemen’s economy. Projects in the transportation sector include the rehabilitation of airports, mainly the Aden International Airport, whose first and second phases were launched, with the aim to improve the quality of services provided to passengers and operating airlines.
The Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen provided more than 229 service development projects and initiatives in various Yemeni regions in 7 basic sectors, including education, health, water, energy, and transportation, in addition to agriculture and fisheries.



WFP: Major Food Aid 'Scale-up' Underway to Famine-hit Sudan

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
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WFP: Major Food Aid 'Scale-up' Underway to Famine-hit Sudan

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa

More than 700 trucks are on their way to famine-stricken areas of Sudan as part of a major scale-up after clearance came through from the Sudanese government, a World Food Program spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in conflict since April 2023 that has caused acute hunger and disease across the country. Both sides are accused of impeding aid deliveries, the RSF by looting and the army by bureaucratic delays.
"In total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month," WFP Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli told a press briefing in Geneva.
"We've received around 700 clearances from the government in Sudan, from the Humanitarian Aid Commission, to start to move and transport assistance to some of these hard-to-reach areas," she added, saying the start of the dry season was another factor enabling the scale-up.
The WFP fleet will be clearly labelled in the hope that access will be facilitated, Reuters quoted her as saying.
Some of the food is intended for 14 areas of the country that face famine or are at risk of famine, including Zamzam camp in the Darfur region.
The first food arrived there on Friday prompting cheers from crowds of people who had resorted to eating crushed peanut shells normally fed to animals, Kinzli said.

A second convoy for the camp is currently about 300 km away, she said.