When nations fall out, the sky itself becomes a boundary. Algeria's decision to close its airspace to UAE-registered aircraft — following a formal severance of diplomatic relations — is an ancient gesture rendered in modern terms: the withdrawal of passage as a declaration of distance. Yet the exemption granted to commercial flights until their contract expires in 2026 reveals the enduring tension between political rupture and practical continuity, a reminder that the lives of ordinary travelers rarely align neatly with the decisions of states.