Abd al Kuri is an island in the Socotra archipelago. With an area of 133 km², it is the second‑largest island in the group after Socotra.
At the time when the philatelic market was flooded with stamps from various Arab sheikhdoms, the only three Abd al Kuri stamps were also produced. In 1969 they were issued by the Rome-based Inter‑Philatelic Agency. Dealers received specimens, sets were offered at face value -750 fils in total, which at the time was equivalent to 6.60 DEM.
Today they are offered for over €1,000.
The stamps depict supersonic airliners: the Tu‑144, the Concorde, and the American Boeing. However, the Boeing never entered service.
The population, which numbered only a few hundred, was relocated, and the United Arab Emirates was building a military base with an airstrip on the island. It was to serve as an unsinkable aircraft carrier for potential operations in the troubled Horn of Africa region and the southern Arabian Peninsula, where UAE is engaged.
But in January 2026, Saudi Arabia expelled UAE forces from mainland Yemen, and flights from Socotra were rerouted from Abu Dhabi to Saudi Arabia. The political map looked like this.
Apparently, the base on Abd al-Kuri will also change hands.
Source: Internet and the author’s archive
Contact for the author: valdpete@yahoo.com
