The measure comes as pressure mounts on Yemen to crack down on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is entrenched in mountain redoubts east of the capital and claimed responsibility for the botched Christmas Day bid to down a US airliner over Detroit.
"Yemen has stopped granting visas at the airport to halt terrorist infiltration," Saba said.
Separately, a military official said that "in light of this decision, granting visas to foreigners will take place only through the embassies of Yemen, and after consulting security authorities to verify the identities of travellers."
This is to "prevent the infiltration of any suspected terrorist elements," he was quoted by the defence ministry newspaper September 26 as saying.
Six airports in Yemen receive international flights.
There was no immediate explanation as to who might be the target of the new measure, but until now very few nationalities were required to apply for visas in advance of travelling.
Earlier this week the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report warning that AQAP may be training as many as three dozen US citizens who converted to Islam in prison.
