RIYADH: Aden airport will officially open on Sunday and flights are set to resume as normal despite repairs continuing in the wake of the missile attack last week. Yemen’s Minister of Transport Abdel Salam Hamid made the announcement on Saturday as a team of Saudi-backed engineering experts coordinated with Yemeni authorities to assess and repair damage caused by a deadly attack on Aden’s airport last Wednesday. Less than 24 hours after the attack, the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) formed a team to evaluate the damage to Aden International Airport following the explosion that occurred as members of the new Yemeni government arrived in the interim capital. The engineering team included contractors, consultants and technical experts, who will supervise works to repair the damage caused by the bomb attack on the airport building. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, General Supervisor of the SDRP Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Jaber said that a contract had been signed this week to implement the second phase of the Aden International Airport rehabilitation project, at a cost of SR54.4 million ($14.5 million), during an event held at SDRP headquarters in Riyadh in the presence of Yemeni ministers, foreign ambassadors, the media, and parties concerned with development affairs. Ali Albalawi, a strategic analysis expert, said that despite attempts by the Iranian-backed Houthis to stall a political solution in Yemen and make the lives of its people miserable and chaotic, the Kingdom had supported peace and development, and the empowering of the legitimate government to regain control of Aden. “The Kingdom has for years supported Yemen and regards Yemen and Yemenis as a strategic partner, and the Yemeni people realize this fact. Iran supports, through its arms, any attempt to gain control over nearby Arab countries,” he said.HIGHLIGHT Less than 24 hours after the attack, the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) formed a team to evaluate the damage to Aden International Airport following the explosion that occurred as members of the new Yemeni government arrived in the interim capital. Iran used its arms to threaten international maritime navigation under the pretext of fighting Israel and the US while in fact it was working to extend its control over Arab countries, he said. Albalawi said that Yemenis and the Islamic world would have to look at Iran’s long-term goals in Yemen and the region from a strategic perspective, and its goals in Iraq and Syria and Lebanon, because it was trying to turn these countries into failed states politically and developmentally. It wanted to aggravate doctrinal conflicts and set up militias. The Kingdom, on the other hand, was working to stabilize the region and enhance security regionally and internationally, he said. SDRPY previously implemented the first phase of airport reconstruction, while the second phase will work on rehabilitating the airport to become compatible with the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This will raise the efficiency of the transport sector in Yemen, improve the airport’s capacity and upgrade the quality of its services.