Yemenia dates its origins back to Yemen Airlines,[4] a company that was founded in the second

half of the 1940s[2] and owned by Ahmad bin Yahya, then King of Yemen.[5] When the Yemen
Arab Republic was proclaimed in 1962, Yemen Airlines was issued a new airline licence on 4
August of that year (which remains valid until today), thus becoming the flag carrier of the
country, with its head office in the Ministry of Communication Building in Sana'a.[5] In 1967, the
airline entered a co-operation with United Arab Airlines, which lasted until 1972. During that
period, it was known as Yemen Arab Airlines.[4]

In September 1972 and following nationalisation Yemen Airlines was reorganised and renamed
Yemen Airways Corporation (YAC).[6] At March 1975 YAC had 60 employees; the airline's fleet
consisted of four DC-6Bs and four DC-3s that served domestic destinations and an international
network that included Asmara, Cairo, Djibouti, Dhahran, Jeddah and Kuwait.[7] On lease from
World Airways, YAC operated a pair of Boeing 737-200 aircraft for two and a half years until the
carrier ordered an aircraft of the type in mid-1976.[8] In early 1977, a new airline was jointly
established by the governments of the Yemen Arab Republic and Saudi Arabia, with both
countries holding 51% and 49% of the shares, respectively, and the name Yemen Airways was
adopted on 1 July 1978.[6] In April 1978, a two-year contract for the provision of two Boeing 707-
320Cs that included the supply of aircrews and engineering support was signed with British
Midland Airways (BMA).[9] In July 1979, the carrier signed a three-year agreement with Pan Am
for the provision of technical maintenance and personal training.[6][10] Two de Havilland Canada
Dash 7s were ordered.[11] The unilateral cancellation of the contract signed with BMA by Yemen
Airways led the British carrier to file a claim against the Yemeni airline, which resulted in the
impoundment of one of its Boeing 727-200s.[9]

At July 1980 the workforce was 750 and chairmanship was held by Shaif M. Saeed. By this time,
five Boeing 727-200s, two Boeing 737-200s, one Douglas DC-6A and three DC-3s made up the
airline's fleet. Domestic scheduled passenger services linked Sana'a with Baydhan, Hodeida,
Mareb and Taiz; Abu Dhabi, Athens, Cairo, Damascus, Dhahran, Dubai, Jeddah, Karachi,
Kuwait, Muscat, Rome and Sharjah were part of the international network. Cargo services were
also undertaken.[6] The two Dash 7s were part of the fleet by March 1985, along with five Boeing
727-200s and one Boeing 737-200, and the airline had expanded its route network to include
Amsterdam, Bombay, Frankfurt, Larnaca and London-Gatwick. The number of employees had
grown to 1,100.[12]

When South Yemen was united with the Yemen Arab Republic to form today's Yemen in
1990,[13] plans were made to form a single national airline by merging South Yemen's Alyemda
into Yemenia.[citation needed] To achieve this, the shares held by Saudi Arabia were bought
back by the government of Yemen in 1992.[4] The merger took place in 1996.[14] Yemenia
became an Airbus A310 operator in 1995 with two leased A310-200s;[15] the introduction of the
Airbus A310-300 followed in March 1997.[16]