FLIGHTS GROUNDED

Hundreds of Tourists Stranded on Paradise Island Amid Conflict

Flights ground to a halt on Yemen’s Socotra island after a rupture between Gulf allies left visitors cut off with little cash and no clear way home.

Hundreds of foreign tourists were left stranded on a remote island after a regional power shift abruptly severed its air links. Roughly 600 visitors became stuck on Socotra after the United Arab Emirates withdrew its troops from Yemen, halting flights to and from the island as tensions escalated with Saudi Arabia. The breakdown followed a widening split between the two Gulf powers, which now back opposing sides in Yemen’s civil war. “Nobody has any information and everyone just wants to go back to their normal lives,” said Aurelija Krikstaponiene, a Lithuanian tourist who traveled to Socotra over New Year’s Eve. She was scheduled to return to Abu Dhabi, but may now have to leave via Jeddah as control of the airport shifts. Socotra, located more than 300 kilometers south of Yemen’s coast, had largely avoided the mainland conflict and was accessible mainly through the UAE. Emirati forces took effective control of the island in 2018, but Saudi-backed airstrikes against UAE-aligned separatists have since altered the balance. “We have a limited amount of cash, and most people will run out in two or three days,” Maciej, a Polish tourist, told Reuters, noting there are no ATMs or card payments on the island. Yemeni airlines said a flight to Jeddah would operate on January 7.