Riyadh Airport Closed Until Next Week
With Riyadh airport remaining closed until next week, the wave of flight cancellations to Saudi Arabia has widened, and three airlines from Qatar, the UAE, and Malaysia removed Saudi routes from their flight schedules today.
According to ambassador Arjan; Qatar Airways announced today, October 12, the temporary suspension of its flights to Riyadh and Dammam.
The company stated the reason for this decision as "current situation" and did not announce a specific time for the resumption of flights.
Meanwhile, Emirates Airline also announced that it will temporarily suspend all its flights to and from Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah airports in Saudi Arabia.
According to the announcement of this company, it has canceled flights to Al-Dammam until October 14 and flights to Riyadh until October 19.
On Tuesday, Malaysia Airlines was added to the list of airlines that have suspended their flights to Saudi Arabia.
According to the announcement of this company, all flights from Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru to Jeddah and Medina and vice versa from October 12 to 17 (October 21 to 25) have been canceled.
Bahrain Gulf Air also extended the cancellation of flights to Riyadh until October 17.
Fly Dubai also continued to cancel flights to Riyadh until October 14.
Etihad Airways has suspended Abu Dhabi-Riyadh flights until October 19. Lufthansa has extended the suspension of flights to Riyadh until October 16, and Air France-KLM will continue the suspension of flights until the end of October.
Philippine Airlines has extended the cancellation of Riyadh flights until November 29, and Cathay Pacific has postponed the return of Hong Kong-Riyadh and Hong Kong-Dubai flights until January 31, 2027.
Delta has also suspended the Atlanta-Riyadh route until March 2027. Air India, Air India Express and SriLankan Airlines have also imposed similar restrictions.
Riyadh airport is closed until next week
The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority announced that the closure of Riyadh King Khalid International Airport has been extended until 21:00 on October 17 (Sunday, October 26) to complete security checks and operational preparations.
Although the International Airport of Malek Fahd al-Dammam has resumed its activities, the disruption of its flight schedule continues. Jeddah airport is open, but flights are severely disrupted. Based on the flight tracking data, about 46.4% of the flights at Saudi airports have been canceled.
Background: Intensification of attacks since Thursday; Closure of Riyadh after three waves of attacks
According to this report, the disruption in Saudi air transportation started last Thursday (October 8) with the escalation of Yemeni attacks on Saudi targets.
On Saturday (October 10), the attacks on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh were carried out in three waves and closed the airport. On Saturday evening, due to the attack on Al-Dammam airport, the flights of this airport were stopped. Saudi sources have not made a definitive statement about the origin of some ammunition landed near Dammam airport.
The Yemeni armed forces have warned that the airports and airspace of Saudi Arabia are "unsafe" except for the airports of Mecca and Medina, and asked airlines, employees and passengers not to use them. On the other hand, the Saudi-led coalition considers the attacks in Yemen as a response to the increase in airstrikes in Yemen.