Algeria closes its airspace to UAE-registered aircraft as diplomatic feud deepens

Following Algeria’s decision to cut off diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the North African country also decided to close its airspace to all civilian and military aircraft registered in the UAE.

• Algeria severed diplomatic ties with the UAE and closed its airspace to most UAE-registered aircraft as of September 11, 2026.
• Exceptions are made for commercial civilian UAE flights to and from Algiers' Houari Boumediene International Airport until the end of 2026, when their contract expires.
• Tensions have escalated over persistent Algerian allegations of Emirati interference in domestic affairs and support for rival regional actors.
• The UAE was formally notified in February 2026 about Algeria’s intention to terminate their Air Services Agreement originally signed in 2013.

The decision was announced by the Algerian Ministry of Defense on September 10, 2026, and took effect the next day.

The ministry noted that the ban “exempts commercial civilian UAE air flights arriving from and departing to Houari Boumediene International Airport in Algiers, which will continue until the end of the current year, 2026, the date of the contract’s expiration”.

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While tensions recently escalated to a new height, the ban on some UAE flights to Algeria dates back to February 2026, when the UAE’s General Civil Aviation ⁠Authority (GCAA) was formally notified regarding Algeria's intention to terminate the Air Services Agreement (ASA) originally signed between the two sovereign nations in 2013.

At that juncture, Emirates stated that its final scheduled flight from the Algerian capital, Algiers, was slated for departure on February 3, 2027, as seen on Aerotimes.

On September 10, 2026, Algeria officially announced that, “after exhausting all means capable of preserving bilateral relations,” it had decided to “sever diplomatic relations” with the UAE.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Algeria issued the following statement: “Given the increasing provocative or hostile actions emanating from the United Arab Emirates, Algeria has shown great self-restraint and a high sense of responsibility.

It has not hesitated, out of a spirit of full respect for the principles governing relations between states, to make every effort to draw the attention of the Emirati side and warn it of the serious and unjustified consequences that could result from its regrettable conduct.”

Last week, it was reported that the Emirati ambassador to Algeria was summoned to the North African country’s foreign ministry and formally asked to leave the country.

This action represented a significant escalation in diplomatic tensions between the North African nation and the Gulf state, following persistent allegations by Algeria regarding Emirati interference in its domestic affairs and support for opposing regional actors.