How To Get A Visa To Yemen/Book A Flight

Intro

Before beginning on the Yemen series, I figured it was important to share the complicated process of not only getting a visa but also booking a flight to Yemen 🇾🇪. Yemen isn't a place that you can waltz into without a contact on the ground, and thus plenty of preparation needs to go into it.

For the purpose of this, I arranged my tour two weeks beforehand, which is cutting it very, very close.

Visiting North Yemen

There are three main sections when it comes to visiting Yemen: the North (Sanaa), the South (Aden, Seiyun), and Socotra. Each has their own visas (sort of), but first let's discuss The North.

At this moment of time, it is practically impossible to visit the North if you are a tourist. With Israel taking out the last Yemenia plane based in the North, the only way into the country is by land border from the South (apparently, the Saudi border is not open).

Yemenia had* two different fleets. There are 4 planes in the South, and there were 2 planes in the North. Both of the planes in the North have since been bombed...

So, for the time being, let's mark this as "not able to visit", since unless you have some serious contacts, this is not going to be possible.

Visiting South Yemen

With the North being inaccessible for the time being, this leaves South Yemen. The North and the South are currently split; thus, a visa to the South does not grant you access to the North, and vice versa.

Visiting South Yemen is relatively straightforward if you have someone to help you out. Whether it be a friend or a guide, they must go to the visa consulate in Aden and apply for your visa in person. It usually takes anywhere from 3-10 working days (it's Yemen), and costs somewhere between 150-200$.

South Yemen Visa: Yes I blocked my passport number and personal info lol

Now, here is where it gets a little bit complicated. Prior to your flight into Aden or Seiyun, you must send your visa via WhatsApp to the airline, as well as display it at the airport. They will allow you onboard, but once you land, the person who got you a visa has to bring the physical visa to immigration and meet you there.

In other words, you cannot get a tourist visa if you do not have someone on the ground to help you out.

Note: if you get a visa to South Yemen, it is valid for 30 days, and allows you to also enter Socotra. However, if you get a visa only for Socotra, then you will not be able to enter South Yemen. Make sense? Probably not 😅.

Visiting Socotra

Lastly, you have Socotra, which is probably the most straightforward of the three. In recent years, Socotra has exploded as a tourist destination with every "adventure traveler" seeming to visit.

To be honest, this process is extremely simple, as long as you have the money to pay for it. You simply find one of the hundreds of tour agencies offering a tour, pay the 1800-2500$ for the whole tour, and they will get you the visa within 1-2 weeks.

Note: this might be changing soon, as I hear Russians are planning on opening hostels in Socotra, so you might be able to get a visa yourself soon. Let's see how this unfolds.

Booking A Flight To Yemen

If I haven't put you off by now, I might just do so now 😅 (not in a bad way). Why? Because booking a flight to Yemen is not only challenging, but possibly the most expensive commercial flight in the world.

Let's start easy with Socotra. You don't book the flights; the tour company will book the flights for you. Why? Because you have to book the flights in person at a ticketing office, and the main choice is Yemenia. I mean, technically you could, but the price will be the same, as the tours don't upcharge. Anyway, here are your options:

• Yemenia: flies from Abu Dhabi (charter flights), Mukalla, Aden, and Ghaydah. These routes operate a maximum of once per week (for the time being, looking to increase), and cost a whopping 700-1000$ round-trip in economy. Business? You are looking at 1500$++ round-trip. Unreal...

• Air Arabia: This low-cost carrier (LCC) based in the UAE operates 2x weekly flights (increasing to 4 soon) from Sharjah to Socotra. These are not possible to book, even at the ticketing office, and must be booked by your tour guide. I asked a friend what the cost was for a round-trip flight, and it comes out to a whopping 930$ round-trip. WOW!

A new Air Arabia cabin: taken on FlyJinnah though

Now for the real fun, how to book a flight to South Yemen! 🇾🇪

Booking a ticket to South Yemen is actually pretty straightforward, as there are plenty of airlines (I say plenty, but around 3 lol) that fly to Aden. But there is one catch: if you are planning to fly to South Yemen, book your ticket early, as when I went, all of the tickets were sold out to everywhere but Djibouti for 2 weeks straight.

• Yemenia: As per usual, Yemenia flies to more destinations than most other carriers. You have daily flights to Cairo and Jeddah, along with 1-2 weekly flights to Riyadh, Dubai, Kuwait (1x weekly), Amman, Djibouti, Addis Ababa, and Mumbai. For a better look, here is the route map...

• Side note: There are also 3 weekly flights from Cairo and Jeddah to Sayun.

• Flights start at 600$ round-trip to Djibouti, about a thousand to Cairo and Jeddah, while Dubai and Kuwait can run you about 1-1.2K. If you are thinking about business class, multiply that by about 1.3-1.5x.

Yemenia Route Map

Okay, but what are my other options? You have two

• African Express: Utilizing an MD82, African Express operates flights from Djibouti to Aden every Thursday and Friday. From what I hear, the price is about 550$ round-trip in economy, and there is no business class.

• Air Djibouti: Finally, you have Air Djibouti (review coming later today). This airline operates 5x weekly flights between the cities on an RJ145 in a 1-2 configuration in an all-economy layout. I flew this airline on the way out, and actually really liked it. The cost is the same: about 550$ RT.

The plane is all-white for safety reasons

And that's pretty much it! Oh yeah, if you are thinking about the Oman land border, that only works when departing Yemen, not entering (changed back in 2021).

Final Thoughts

If you are thinking about heading to Yemen, you certainly have your work cut out for you when it comes to planning. Unlike a lot of other countries, you cannot just waltz into the country and hope to get in. Whether you are going to Socotra or South Yemen, a guide must arrange the visa for you, meet you at the airport, and book your flight (if you are not from Yemen).

However, please don't be put off by this, as Yemen is such a magnificent country, filled with some of the kindest people! Stay tuned for more, and welcome to the first extract of the Yemen series!

Yemen Series:

Intro: A magnificent trip to Aden, Yemen 🇾🇪