Riyadh Airport Being Emptied of Aircraft

Riyadh International Airport, closed since last Saturday following attacks by Yemen's armed forces, is now witnessing a massive exodus of aircraft.

According to Ambassador Arjan, flight tracking data and international media reports indicate that in the midst of intensifying attacks on Riyadh airport, airlines are withdrawing a significant part of their fleet from the Saudi capital.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Saudi airlines are moving dozens of planes worth a total of about $4 billion from the risk zone to reduce the risk of attacks.

Air traffic data also shows that the number of planes in Riyadh airport, which was 134 before, has decreased to 38 by Wednesday afternoon; In this way, more than 70% of the planes in this airport have left it during this period.

According to the mentioned report, this extensive relocation, in addition to operational effects for the Saudi aviation industry, can also affect the insurance costs of the country's airlines.

The increase in the risk of war, especially for the large Saudi companies, Riyadh Air and Fly Adil, has been assessed as one of the economic consequences of the continued insecurity around the Saudi aviation infrastructure.

In recent years, Riyadh has invested billions of dollars to become one of the main hubs of air transportation in the region, and the development of the Riyadh Air fleet, the extensive purchase of aircraft and the development of airports in this country are among the main components of the economic plans known as "Vision 2030".

Therefore, the continuation of disruption in the capital's airport activity can, in addition to direct costs, also put pressure on Saudi Arabia's plans to develop the tourism and aviation industry.

The sharp decrease in the number of planes stationed at the Riyadh airport takes place after the Yemeni armed forces have warned many times over the past few days about the continuation of operations against Saudi airports and oil infrastructure.

Riyadh Airport has been closed since last Saturday evening following the explosion in Terminal 3 of the airport, which killed three people and injured around 300 people. According to the Civil Aviation Organization, this airport will be closed at least until next Sunday.

Yahya Saree, the spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces, announced yesterday, Wednesday, that the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was once again targeted by a ballistic missile and the missile hit the target "precisely and directly".

The armed forces of Yemen also announced on Wednesday the implementation of a large-scale operation against several economic and infrastructure targets in Saudi Arabia.

According to the statement published by Sana'a, Aramco facilities in Dhahran in the eastern region, King Khalid International Airport and an Aramco refinery in Riyadh were targeted in this operation.

Saudi authorities have also confirmed that an office building belonging to Aramco in Dhahran was hit. The Saudi Ministry of Energy has announced that this incident caused a limited fire, but there were no casualties.

The Yemeni armed forces have called this operation in response to the recent Saudi attacks on Sana'a and other areas under the control of the Sana'a government, and they say that Saudi Arabia has carried out 2,281 air and missile attacks against Yemen during the recent escalation of conflicts.

Sana'a has also warned international airlines, airport employees and companies active in the targeted facilities to stay away from these centers and announced that operations against Saudi airports and oil facilities will continue in the coming days.

According to published reports, some major foreign companies, including Lufthansa and Air India, have stopped or suspended their flights to Riyadh at times.