ALGIERS — Algeria has begun the process of terminating its air services agreement with the United Arab Emirates, a bilateral aviation pact signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013 and ratified the following year, state media said Saturday.
Algeria’s state-owned radio said authorities had “initiated procedures to terminate the air services agreement with the United Arab Emirates, signed in Abu Dhabi on 13 May 2013 and ratified by a presidential decree dated 30 December 2014.”
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The broadcaster cited Article 22 of the accord, which requires that the Emirati side be formally notified of the termination through diplomatic channels. It added that the Secretary-General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will also be informed “to undertake the necessary procedures within the organization.”
The announcement did not specify a reason for the move. There was no immediate comment from the UAE.
The decision comes after months of increasingly sharp commentary in Algerian media accusing the UAE of attempting to stoke regional discord. In October, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Algeria’s ties with Gulf states were “brotherly” — naming Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar — but pointedly excluded one country, in what was widely seen as a reference to the UAE. He accused the unnamed state of meddling in Algeria’s internal affairs and seeking to destabilize it.
Air services agreements set the legal and commercial terms for international flights between countries, including route rights, capacity and oversight provisions. While Algeria has not detailed immediate operational changes, the move to terminate the pact signals a hardening diplomatic posture that could carry implications for commercial aviation links between the two countries once the process runs its course.
By invoking the termination clause and alerting ICAO, Algeria is taking formal steps that typically precede adjustments to traffic rights and regulatory coordination. The precise timeline and impact will depend on how the two governments implement the termination and whether interim arrangements are pursued to manage air connectivity.
Algeria’s public confirmation of the process underscores a broader recalibration in some North African and Gulf relationships, where geopolitical rivalries and competing regional agendas have, at times, spilled into economic and transport policy. For Algiers, which has emphasized sovereignty and noninterference, the move also aligns with Tebboune’s rhetoric that Algeria will respond firmly to perceived external meddling.
Beyond the diplomatic signaling, any change to the bilateral aviation framework would be closely watched by travelers and carriers operating between North Africa and the Gulf. Algeria has not indicated whether existing flight schedules face near-term disruption, and the UAE has yet to respond publicly.
For now, the action marks a notable escalation from criticism in the press to a concrete procedural step, placing the future of Algeria–UAE aviation ties into a formal review process with international oversight by ICAO.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
