Flights suspended at Yemen’s Aden airport amid escalating STC–government tensions

Flights from Aden International Airport were suspended on Thursday as tensions intensified between Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the Saudi Arabia-backed internationally recognised government, raising fresh concerns over stability in the country’s south.

According to the Al Jazeera reports, all commercial flights were halted during the day, though there was no immediate clarity on when normal operations might resume. The suspension comes against the backdrop of a rapidly escalating political and military standoff involving the STC, a separatist group that seeks to establish an independent state in southern Yemen.

While the STC is formally part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, it has increasingly pursued its own agenda. In December, the group expanded its military presence in the eastern provinces of Hadramout and al-Mahra, both strategically significant regions bordering Saudi Arabia. The move sharply raised tensions with the internationally recognised government and Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia has accused the United Arab Emirates, another key member of the anti-Houthi coalition, of backing and arming the STC to facilitate its expansion into the two provinces, allegations Abu Dhabi has strongly denied.

The UAE has maintained that it supports Saudi Arabia’s security and has recently agreed to withdraw its remaining troops from Yemen. The STC, however, has refused to scale back its presence in Hadramout and al-Mahra.

On Thursday, the STC-aligned transport ministry within Yemen’s recognised government said the airport disruption was triggered by new Saudi-imposed requirements, which it claimed mandated inspections in Jeddah for flights operating to and from Aden.

The ministry said it was taken aback by the decision, adding that Saudi authorities later clarified the measures applied only to flights between Aden and the UAE.

A Saudi source rejected claims that Riyadh was responsible for grounding flights, saying the inspection requirement for UAE-bound services had been imposed by Yemen’s own internationally recognised government. Yemeni presidential adviser Thabet al-Ahmadi confirmed that a restriction had been applied to a single flight route, explaining that it was aimed at preventing alleged money smuggling by the STC.

Al-Ahmadi stressed that the government did not support a full suspension of air traffic and was keen to ensure flights continued without disruption.

The developments come days after the UAE announced the voluntary withdrawal of its remaining “counterterrorism” forces from Yemen, following a Saudi strike on what Riyadh described as a UAE-linked weapons shipment in the southern port city of Mukalla.

On Wednesday, Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, warned that further efforts by the STC to entrench its control in Hadramout and al-Mahra would have serious consequences.

The STC has dismissed those warnings, insisting it will maintain its presence in the provinces. Its spokesperson, Mohammed al-Naqeeb, said the group was coordinating its movements with the Homeland Shield forces, a security body aligned with the Yemeni government and the Saudi-led coalition that previously oversaw security in the area.

Yemen has been locked in a brutal civil war since 2014, when Houthi forces seized the capital, Sanaa. While the Houthis continue to control much of the country’s northwest, the south and east remain contested between the STC and the internationally recognised government, further complicating efforts to stabilise the war-torn nation.