Mysterious airstrip in Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen appears ready, satelitte images show

Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show an airstrip now appears ready on Mayun Island, a volcanic outcropping in the center of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen.

The images show the airstrip had been painted with the designation markings “09” and “27” to the airstrip’s east and west respectively.

A Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis had acknowledged having “equipment” on Mayun, also known as Perim. However, air and sea traffic to Mayun has linked the construction to the UAE, which backs a secessionist force in Yemen known as the Southern Transitional Council.

World powers have recognized the island’s strategic location for hundreds of years, especially with the opening of the Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

The work on Mayun follows the completion of a similar airstrip likely constructed by the UAE on Abd al-Kuri Island, which rises out of the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden.