Socotra Airport

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Socotra Airport
مطار سقطرى الدولي
IATA: SCT – ICAO: OYSQ
Summary
Airport type Public / Military
Serves Socotra
Location Socotra, Yemen
Elevation AMSL 45 m / 146 ft
Coordinates 12°37′50″N 053°54′20″E / 12.63056, 53.90556
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03/21 3,300 10,827 Asphalt

Socotra Airport (مطار سقطرى الدولي: Arabic) is an airport in Socotra, Yemen (IATA: SCTICAO: OYSQ). It is the only commercial airport that serves the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea and its capital town of Hadibo. The most remote Yemeni airport has nearly daily flights connecting the island with the mainland airport near Al-Mukallah (Riyan International Airport) where all aircraft make a technical stop on their route to the capital city of Sana'a or the southern port city of Aden. All civil flights are operated by the national Al-Yemenia airline.

The airport is loacted on the paved road that connects Hadibo on the northern coast with the main tourist attraction on the extreme west of the island, Qalansiyah beach. It takes about two hours from the airport to get to Qalansiyah, an unpolluted, quiet and romantic beach.

There is no scheduled transportation service between the airport and Hadibo, but it can be reached within a quarter of an hour by any random collective bus or any other vehicle, most probably going westwards. In case you take a bus you are normally expected to pay a little more than local passengers. Normal fees vary between 30 and 50 Yemeni rials (1.00 USD = 200.00 YRS).

Furthermore, it is a bit more difficult to get from the airport to Hadibo if you arrive to the island without any prior arrangements, unless you speak Arabic and/or know how to make deals with private car drivers.

Please note that Socotra, being still an undeveloped island that has no industries or agriculture, can't offer an expected variety of food and local groceries and therefore charge heavily for items that are imported from the mainland, even bottled water.

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