ADEN, Nov 28 (NNN-WAM) — A flight managed, on Wednesday, to land at the international airport in Yemen’s southeastern province of Hadramout, following five years of suspension due to the years-long military conflict.
A Hadramout local authority said, “UAE successfully completed the reconstruction process of the Riyan airport in Hadramout and it is officially reopened.”
He said, senior Yemeni officials visited the airport and inaugurated its activities, by receiving the first air flight coming from Cairo.
“Employees of the airport were qualified previously by the UAE, and received adequate knowledge in managing the airport, according to modern technologies,” he added.
The Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, totally seized Mukalla, Hadramout’s capital, in 2015, and partially destroyed the Riyan airport.
The UAE provided crucial military aid for the newly-recruited southern Yemeni forces and managed to kick the al-Qaeda militants out of Mukalla city in 2016.
Earlier this week, Yemen’s General Authority for Civil Aviation and Meteorology, released a circular to airline companies and the international humanitarian organisations, regarding the readiness of the Riyan airport to receive air flights.
On Tuesday, director of Riyan’s airport, Anes Baswaitin, said, “UAE played a major role and generously supported all the costs of reconstructing the airport.”
He confirmed that the UAE fully reconstructed the airport’s lounges, and equipped them with modern technologies, as well as, maintenance for the runways and rebuilding the control tower of the airport.– NNN-WAM