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The General Authority of Civil Aviation announced on October 12 that it was extending the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with no immediate date set for resumption. The authority said in a statement that the measure would allow officials to complete necessary procedures to verify the safety of the facilities and their operational readiness after the recent strikes. Multiple airlines have diverted flights and canceled services into and out of the Saudi capital as a result of the ongoing closure that began on October 10.
A Houthi attack on the airport on October 10 killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300 others according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation. The dead included four Saudi citizens two Bangladeshis and individuals from the United States Jordan Palestine Syria Sudan and Egypt a Reuters report detailed. The assault struck a terminal complex serving domestic flights and marked the deadliest such incident in the kingdom in more than a decade according to the news agency.
Earlier strikes on the airport on October 8 killed three Saudi citizens including a pilot and caused heavy damage to a parked Saudia Airlines aircraft the Saudi civil aviation authority reported. Those attacks prompted an initial temporary suspension of operations while damage was assessed with flights gradually resuming the following day before the latest incident forced a full closure. The sequence of assaults has exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi air defenses amid the group’s escalated campaign.
Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for the October 10 strike with the head of their media office posting on X that the group had shut down Riyadh international airport. The rebels have declared Saudi airspace a zone of military operations and warned international airlines to avoid it except for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In response the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen described the attack as a full-fledged war crime and vowed a decisive reply in accordance with international humanitarian law according to coalition spokesperson Major-General Turki al-Malki.
The closure has triggered widespread flight disruptions with data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showing nearly half of departures from Riyadh canceled in the immediate aftermath and hundreds more affected across the week. Carriers including Lufthansa Air India Etihad Qatar Airways and Kuwait Airways have suspended services to and from the capital citing the security situation and operational disruptions. Flight tracking service Flightradar24 reported more than 300 flights either canceled or significantly delayed as arrivals were diverted primarily to Jeddah.
The attacks come as the ceasefire in Yemen has unraveled leading to renewed ground fighting between Houthi rebels and forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition. The Iran-aligned group has intensified its missile and drone campaign targeting Saudi infrastructure including airports and energy facilities in recent months. Saudi authorities have maintained that an international energy conference scheduled in Riyadh proceeded as planned despite the airport closure and related security concerns.
