Socotra Airport

Socotra Airport (Arabic:مطار سقطرى) is an airport in Socotra, Yemen (IATA: SCT, ICAO: OYSQ).^[1] It is the only commercial airport that serves the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea and its capital town of Hadibu.

Socotra Airport مطار سقطرى
IATA: SCT ICAO: OYSQ
Summary
Airport type	Public / Military
Serves	Socotra
Location	Socotra, Socotra Governorate, Yemen
Opened	1999 (1999)
Elevation AMSL	45 m / 146 ft
Coordinates	12°37′50″N 053°54′20″E
Map
SCT Location of airport in Yemen
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 03/21 3,300 10,827 Asphalt

Overview

Airport lobby

The most remote Yemeni airport, which was opened in 1999,^{[citation needed]} has a weekly flight connecting the island with the mainland airport in Mukalla where an aircraft makes a technical stop on their route to Aden. The airport is located on the paved road that connects Hadibo on the northern coast with the main tourist attraction on the extreme west of the island, Qalansiyah beach. It takes about two hours to get from the airport to Qalansiyah. There is no scheduled transportation service between the airport and Hadibo, but it can be reached within a quarter of an hour by vehicle.

Flights were suspended in March 2015, due to Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen^[2] and resumed in late 2018.

In April 2018, troops from the United Arab Emirates dismissed the Yemeni officials and took administrative control of the airport.^[3] On May of the same year, an agreement was reached between the United Arab Emirates and Yemen where control of the airport returned to the Yemeni authorities.^[4][5]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations	Refs.	Notes
Yemenia	Mukalla	[6]
Air Arabia	Abu Dhabi	[7][8][9]	Operating illegally

See also

• List of airports in Yemen

References

1. Airport SOCOTRA, Fallingrain
2. Ghattas, Abir. "Yemen's No Fly Zone: Thousands of Yemenis are Stranded Abroad". Retrieved 8 April 2015.
3. "Anger erupts on Yemen's Socotra as UAE deploys over 100 troops". Al-Jazeera.com. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
4. "Yemen PM: Crisis over UAE deployment to Socotra over". Al Jazeera.
5. "Yemen, UAE Agree on Deal Over Socotra". Albawaba News.
6. "Schedule". instagram.com. 3 August 2022.
7. Staff, M. E. O. (2021-05-19). "Israeli tourists in Yemen's Socotra on holidays illegally run by UAE". Middle East Observer. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
8. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210602-houthi-govt-slams-uae-over-israel-tourists-on-socotra-and-air-base-on-mayun-island/
9. "Foreign tourists can finally visit Yemen's idyllic Socotra. Yemenis cannot". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2024-09-10.