Two Missiles Fall at Aden Airport About 1,600 Feet From Yemenia Flight IY612 Before Takeoff

Yemenia flight IY612 to Cairo was preparing to take off from Aden International Airport on the evening of Friday, October 16, 2026, when two missiles came down at the airport, Yemen’s government said. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said they landed about 1,600 feet (500 m) from the aircraft.

Aden’s security administration said the missiles fell inside the airport grounds and that initial information showed no lives lost. It blamed the Houthis and called it the second attack of its kind on the airport within a week.

What Yemen’s government says happened

In a post on X, al-Eryani said the missiles came down about 1,600 feet (500 m) from the jet and about 330 feet (100 m) from the center of the runway. He thanked God for the safety of the passengers and crew, and said the strike could have killed dozens of travelers.

“What occurred was not merely an assault on a civilian airport, but a direct threat to the lives of passengers and flight crews,” he wrote.

Yemen’s Transport Ministry gave more detail in a statement carried by the government’s Saba news agency. It said both were ballistic missiles: the first fell at the airport’s western gate, toward the runway, and the second fell northwest of the airport.

According to the ministry, the Yemenia jet was on the runway preparing to take off when they struck, and it was evacuated immediately. A second aircraft, Fly Aden flight QFF101, was in the air inbound from Cairo at the time.

The ministry did not say where QFF101 landed or when IY612 left. It also did not give the number of people on board or the aircraft’s type or registration.

The Houthi account and the camp next door

No group claimed the attack straight away, the Associated Press reported. A security official and an air traffic controller told the agency, without being named, that the area hit hosts a military unit aligned with the Saudi-backed government.

Later on Friday, An-Nahar reported that the Houthi-run Saba news agency in Sanaa said the strike targeted a command headquarters of Saudi forces at Badr camp in Aden, along with weapons depots there.

The attack came a day after a deadly Houthi strike on the presidential palace complex in Aden, Arab News reported, citing Yemeni officials.

The second attack on the airport this month

The previous attack came early on Wednesday, October 7, nine days earlier. The Transport Ministry said then that at least two ballistic missiles and several drones were aimed at the runway and the terminal, according to Al Jazeera.

One missile landed near the runway minutes before a flight from Cairo was due to land, and the ministry sent it to Jeddah instead. Airways Magazine identified that flight as Yemenia IY603.

The terminal was evacuated that day and two aircraft were moved away from the danger area. The Houthis said they had hit “Saudi military supplies” arriving at Badr camp near the airport, the same site they named on Friday.

Why Aden’s airport matters

Aden has been the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2015. Its airport is Yemenia’s main hub, and Airways Magazine, citing Reuters, called it the main international gateway for the parts of Yemen outside Houthi control.

Al-Eryani said the airport handles dozens of flights a day, carrying patients, students and expatriate workers. The Aden security administration made the same point in its statement, saying many Yemenis depend on it to travel for medical treatment.

The airport has been hit before. On December 30, 2020, missiles struck it minutes after a plane carrying Yemen’s new cabinet landed, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 100.

A UN panel of experts later concluded “with very high confidence” that at least two of those missiles were launched from Houthi-held Taiz airport, Al Jazeera reported. The Houthis rejected the report.

The two October strikes on Aden fit a wider pattern this month. The Houthis have also targeted Saudi airports, including the attacks on Abha and Riyadh early in October and a strike on Riyadh’s airport that Saudi authorities say killed 12 people and injured 309.

The Transport Ministry has asked the United Nations and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to condemn the Aden attacks. It said the airport will remain a civilian facility serving Yemenis.