Yemen’s critically ill are trapped as war closes the country’s airports

Yemen’s war has turned air travel into a medical lifeline that can suddenly disappear. Sanaa International Airport, the main air link for millions in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen, has been repeatedly shut since 2016. A brief return of limited flights ended after attacks damaged the airport and destroyed aircraft. Aden’s airport, the main alternative, has also come under attack.

This matters because many patients need treatment unavailable inside Yemen. Rajaa Ghirsan requires complex surgery to open her airway. She spent seven years seeking a place on a flight to Amman, but closures kept blocking her. She cannot afford the overland journey to Aden, which takes about 14 hours from Sanaa and crosses many checkpoints.

Today, no regular flights leave Sanaa. Patients face a choice between waiting for airports to reopen, risking a long trip through contested areas, or going without treatment. For people needing urgent or repeated care, delay can mean worsening illness, financial strain, or death.

The closures affect far more than travelers who miss a single flight. Anis al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run Ministry of Health in Sanaa, said repeated airport closures over the past decade have affected about 400,000 patients. The figure shows how a transport shutdown can become a nationwide health crisis.

Of those patients, about 250,000 need medical treatment abroad. Yemen’s weakened health system lacks the specialist care and infrastructure required for some complex operations. The airport was therefore a vital route for people seeking care in countries such as Jordan, Egypt, India, and Iran. When flights stop, those patients lose their main escape route.

The wider medicine crisis is also severe. More than 125,000 people with cancer face shortages, including 12 cancer drugs that the ministry says are barred from entering Yemen. The disruptions also affect more than 40,000 people with thalassemia and haemolytic anaemia.

Some Yemeni patients must travel because hospitals inside the country cannot provide the specialist treatment or equipment they need. Years of conflict have weakened the health system, reducing access to advanced procedures, medicines, and suitable facilities. For critically ill people, overseas care is not a preference. It may be the only available option.

Rajaa Ghirsan shows why. Vocal cord paralysis and severe complications in her larynx make breathing difficult. She has already undergone six operations in Egypt and India since 2006. She now needs another complex operation to open her airway, but Yemen does not have the required infrastructure and specialist care.

The closed airports turn this medical gap into a trap. Ghirsan registered with Sanaa’s Higher Medical Committee and spent seven years trying to secure a flight to Amman. Repeated closures stopped her from leaving. Without treatment, she remains dependent on a neck device and faces continuing exhaustion, suffering, and the risk of death.

When Sanaa airport is closed, patients from northern Yemen have few alternatives. Aden airport is the main option because it serves the internationally recognised government’s seat. Some patients have also tried routes involving Tehran or other overseas connections. Seiyun, in Hadramout, hosts another airport, but unrest there has further narrowed choices.

The overland route to Aden is especially difficult. The journey from Sanaa takes about 14 hours and crosses dozens of checkpoints on both sides of the front lines. It can be too expensive for families like Rajaa Ghirsan’s. Even after reaching Aden, patients face danger: the airport has been attacked twice in the month described, including missiles that landed near a Yemenia plane.

Air routes can fail too. Mohammed Shajara reached Tehran with his five-year-old daughter, but blocked Iranian flights stranded them without treatment. They returned home. With airports attacked or closed, families must delay care, risk dangerous travel, or remain trapped.

Yemen’s airports sit inside a divided war zone. Sanaa is the Houthi-controlled capital and serves millions in the north. Aden is the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the main alternative for northern patients. Government forces backed by Saudi Arabia have fought the Houthis, while a Saudi-led coalition previously closed Sanaa airport to commercial traffic.

The airports have been caught in wider military disputes. Israeli air attacks in 2025 damaged Sanaa airport and destroyed aircraft. In July, Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia struck Sanaa’s only working runway to stop an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation. Aden’s airport has also been attacked, including by missiles near a Yemenia passenger plane.

These overlapping forces make travel unpredictable. Houthi-controlled authorities arrange overseas medical treatment from Sanaa, but government forces and other military actors control or attack routes and airports. The renewed fighting has brought new restrictions on aid and movement, leaving patients caught between rival authorities.

Missing a flight in Yemen can mean more than inconvenience. Patients may be stranded abroad, forced to return without care, or unable to reach the next airport. Others remain inside the country while illness worsens. War-related closures also interrupt supplies, so patients can lose access to medicines even when a hospital or clinic remains open.

Mohammed Shajara traveled to Tehran with his paraplegic five-year-old daughter in June. When the government blocked Iranian flights to and from Sanaa in July, they were stranded and eventually returned without treatment. Abdulkarim Abdullah had kidney failure and depended on weekly dialysis in Sanaa. The treatment already strained his family’s finances.

Cancer patients face shortages of more than 12 medicines, while more than 40,000 people with thalassemia and haemolytic anaemia face shortages of iron chelation drugs and intravenous solutions. Delays can therefore bring financial pressure, worsening disease, or death. Families may postpone travel because every route is dangerous.

A conflict-weakened health system cannot reliably deliver care because war damages both medical services and the links supporting them. Hospitals may lack specialists, equipment, medicines, electricity, or supplies. Roads and airports may be unsafe or closed. Fighting can also divide the country, making referrals and emergency transport difficult even when a facility remains open.

The article gives several examples. Yemen lacks the infrastructure and specialist care needed for Rajaa Ghirsan’s complex airway operation. Cancer patients face shortages, including 12 cancer drugs. More than 40,000 people with thalassemia and haemolytic anaemia lack iron chelation drugs and intravenous solutions. Patients needing care abroad cannot depend on flights.

This creates a chain of harm. A hospital may offer basic treatment but not advanced surgery. A patient may find a doctor abroad but be unable to reach the airport. Continued fighting, airport attacks, medicine restrictions, and checkpoint delays can turn manageable illnesses into emergencies and force families into debt.

The article describes a device fitted around Rajaa Ghirsan’s neck to keep air flowing through a severely obstructed airway. It does not give the device’s medical name. A device of this kind is commonly called a tracheostomy tube or tracheostomy device, used to provide an alternate opening for breathing.

Ghirsan has vocal cord paralysis and severe complications in her larynx. These problems make it difficult for air to pass normally and leave her barely able to speak or breathe. The neck device helps her breathe a little and protects her from suffocation, but it does not cure the underlying condition. It must be replaced every two months at a cost of $100.

She needs another complex operation abroad to open her airway. Airport closures have prevented her from reaching treatment. Until she can leave Yemen, she remains dependent on the device, exhausted by years of use, and at continuing risk from her condition.