Direct UK Yemen flights cancelled

The UK Prime Minister has announced this week in parliament that the UK will suspend all direct flight with Yemen. This has resulted from the attempted bombing of a US bound plane from Amsterdam on Christmas Day. Gordon brown went on to say that they are currently drawing up a new ‘no-fly’ list because of the threat of Al-Qaeda linked fighters that are believed to be operating out of the country. The only airline offering such flights is Yemenia who have agreed with the British Government to suspend their direct flights.

An official from the airline confirmed the decision to suspend direct flights to the UK on the request of the UK Government. He said that they were asked if they would like to fly to the UK they must first stop in another country for security checks before being allowed to enter British airspace. So far, the UK is the only country to suspend the airline from flying into their country direct, but others have closed consulates that they held in Yemen following the Northwest Airlines incident.

The Yemen Government said they are doing all they can to eradicate Al-Qaeda linked groups in their country. In December they claimed to have attacked a suspected camp with two missiles killing around 60 members of an Al-Qaeda linked group.

The UK are also introducing full body scanners at airports throughout the land after the attempted bombing by a Nigerian man with links to Yemen. The scanners will X-ray the whole body and see if someone is trying to conceal items on them.