Italy began flying its citizens off Yemen’s Socotra island after commercial service collapsed amid a widening rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Foreign Ministry said a group of 46 tourists was routed to Jeddah on the first evacuation flight Wednesday, marking the initial stage of a broader effort to bring home more than a hundred Italians stranded when air links abruptly shut down, Reuters reports.
Officials said the remaining 59 nationals are expected to depart in several rounds over the coming days. Coordination is underway with Saudi and Yemeni authorities, and Riyadh has agreed to provide a four-day transit visa to ease their passage before they continue on to Italy.
The operation follows the UAE’s withdrawal of forces from Yemen last week under a Saudi deadline, a move that also included pulling back from Socotra. The sudden shift left roughly 600 foreign visitors on the island with no outbound flights as tensions between the Gulf partners spilled over from mainland Yemen’s civil war to its remote archipelago.
Air traffic at Socotra’s main airport stalled as the dispute between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh translated into new fighting between the factions they support. While the island is more than 300 kilometers south of Yemen’s coast and has remained largely removed from the war, most access routes depended on UAE-linked carriers that were grounded once the latest crisis erupted.
Rome said it has been in steady contact with families of the stranded tourists and is using a combination of chartered flights and diplomatic clearances to expedite departures. The Foreign Ministry described the return of the first group as an important step in resolving the situation created when visitors were unable to leave after the UAE pulled its contingent off the island.