Due to the
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, a no-fly zone was imposed over the entire country in March 2015, and civilian flights ceased operation. The only flights operating from then on were flights by foreign countries to evacuate their nationals. The militaries of
India and
Pakistan evacuated their citizens from Yemen as the war began. On 29 April 2015, the airport was the target of severe bombardment from the
Royal Saudi Air Force. The sole runway and the passenger terminal building was severely damaged and was deemed unusable for the foreseeable future. On 9 August 2016, the airport was closed down once again after resumption of services by
Yemenia due to closure of airspace by the Saudi-led coalition. On 6 November 2017, in response to a
Houthi missile landing in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi authorities closed the airport along with all other routes into Yemen. On 14 November of that year, the Saudi Air Force bombed the airport, inflicting damage upon it. On 23 November 2017, the authorities allowed the airport to reopen for aid flights, along with the port of
Hodeidah. On 25 November, four planes carrying humanitarian aid landed in Sanaa, the first such planes to land since the total
blockade had been imposed. In December 2021, the airport was targeted by Saudi Arabian airstrikes. Civilians were reportedly evacuated before the airstrikes were launched but the airport was heavily damaged. On 16 May 2022, commercial flights from the airport resumed after six years. The first Yemenia flight carried 151 passengers to the Jordanian capital
Amman. On 28 July 2024, it was announced that Yemenia would resume flights from Sanaa International Airport to Egypt, and India in the following week. However, that was cancelled. On 25 May 2025, for the first time since the start of the civil war the first plane carrying Yemeni pilgrims departed directly from Sanaa International Airport en route to the Saudi city of
Jeddah, marking the beginning of
Hajj pilgrimage season. Khaled Al-Shaif, Director of Sanaa International Airport, stated in a press release that approximately 2,000 pilgrims will be transported directly from the airport to the holy sites.
Israeli airstrikes On 26 December 2024, during a speech by Houthi leader
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the
Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes on the airport in response to Houthi attacks targeting population centers in Israel. On 6 May 2025, following a warning issued by the
Israel Defense Forces to all residents near Sanaa International Airport, along with 10 other sites in the country, was destroyed along with several aircraft by
an Israeli airstrike. Three aircraft belonging to
Yemenia were also reported to have been destroyed on the ground. This attack came less than 24 hours after Israeli forces bombed
Hodeidah International Airport following Houthi strikes on the
Ben Gurion airport near
Tel Aviv. Reacting to the strikes on Sanaa Airport, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu stated "we attacked in the past, we will attack in the future." The airport received its first flight from
Queen Alia International Airport 11 days after the airstrikes. On 28 May, another Israeli airstrike destroyed a Yemenia aircraft that had been chartered to take
Hajj pilgrims to
Mecca before it could be boarded. The aircraft was the last
civilian aircraft that Yemenia Airways was operating from the airport. == Facilities ==