Algeria has closed its airspace to civilian and military aircraft registered in the United Arab Emirates, after severing diplomatic ties with Abu Dhabi following years of growing tensions between the two countries.
The Algerian Defence Ministry said the ban would take effect from midnight on September 11. UAE commercial flights to and from Algiers’ Houari Boumediene International Airport will remain allowed until the end of 2026, when an existing contract expires.
Algiers said it had taken the decision after exhausting efforts to preserve bilateral relations, accusing the UAE of engaging in “provocative and hostile acts”.
Algeria Gives UAE Ambassador 48 Hours
The Algerian Foreign Ministry said it had repeatedly warned Abu Dhabi about its conduct but claimed the UAE continued with actions that had become “unacceptable or intolerable”.
Algiers has given the UAE ambassador 48 hours to comply with the decision.
The UAE Foreign Ministry expressed hope that the diplomatic rupture would be temporary, saying it wanted to preserve what it called “fraternal ties” with Algeria.
The split follows months of increasingly sharp criticism from Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who has accused the UAE of seeking to destabilise countries across the region.
In July, Tebboune said that “wherever they set foot, blood flows” and urged the UAE to stay away from Algeria.
“We want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country,” Tebboune had stated.
He had previously said a diplomatic break could have happened much earlier, but Algeria had sought to avoid further divisions in the Arab world.
Sahel Rivalry Fuels Tensions
Much of the dispute centres on competing approaches to North Africa and the Sahel.
Geoff Porter of North Africa Risk Consulting said Algeria had been trying to maintain stability in the region, while it viewed UAE actions as working “directly counter” to those efforts.
Porter pointed to Abu Dhabi’s support for eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar, its alleged backing of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and a reported drone base in neighbouring Mauritania as major sources of concern for Algiers.
Algeria sees such moves as interference in its regional sphere and a potential security threat.
Wider Regional Differences
The two countries have also clashed over political and diplomatic issues beyond the Sahel.
Last year, Algerian state television accused UAE-based Sky News Arabia of running a hostile media campaign after it broadcast an interview in which historian Mohamed Amine Belghit questioned aspects of Algeria’s indigenous Amazigh identity.
