Yemenia suspends non-stop services to the UK, called by UK Prime Minister

Yemenia suspended non-stop services to the UK, following new UK Government requirements for the carrier to stopover in Cairo or Paris, whereby passengers would be required to disembark for passenger and baggage security checks, before continuing to London Heathrow Airport (Bloomberg, 20-Jan-2010). Yemenia stated the service would be unviable to operate, with the required stopover increasing the total flight time by an additional two to three hours. The carrier operates non-stop to London Heathrow for three months in the peak season and to London Heathrow via Cairo for the remaining nine months p/a. However, passengers were previously not required to disembark in Cairo.

UK Government: "We have agreed with Yemenia Airlines - pending enhanced security - that they suspend their direct flights to the UK from Yemen with immediate effect. We are working closely with the Yemeni government to agree what security measures need to be put in place before flights are resumed," Gordon Brown, Prime Minister. Source: Bloomberg, 20-Jan-2010.

Yemenia: "We ourselves are very concerned by security measure. They asked us to do these things, but it's not realistic, we cannot do it. Nobody would fly, the plane would be empty," Farouk Burhan, Manager London Office. Source: Bloomberg, 20-Jan-2010.