Saudi authorities have extended the shutdown of Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport through 2100 GMT on October 17, after repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks emptied one of the Middle East’s busiest air corridors.
The airport, the kingdom’s second-busiest after Jeddah, has been closed since October 10, when an attack killed 13 people and injured more than 300, the deadliest such incident in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade. A second strike the following day killed one person and wounded nearly a dozen others. Late on Monday, the Houthis claimed a ballistic missile launch toward the airport; Saudi authorities said the missile was intercepted and destroyed in what officials framed as a defensive response to repeated strikes. The group also claimed a drone attack on an airbase in Khamis Mushait, which Riyadh has not confirmed.
A travel corridor empties
For travellers, the effect is a near-total suspension. Aviation analytics firm Cirium reports cancellations across Saudi airports have reached 46.4 percent, and flight-tracking data shows aircraft steering clear of Riyadh even as traffic continues through Jeddah. Etihad Airways has suspended Abu Dhabi services to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, with Riyadh halted until at least October 19, while Lufthansa cancelled its Riyadh services until October 16 and Air France-KLM extended its suspension to the end of October. Qatar Airways has paused Riyadh and Dammam flights, and Delta Air Lines has pushed its planned Atlanta-Riyadh launch from October to March 2027.
Regulators have moved in step. The US Federal Aviation Administration warned American carriers to exercise caution over Saudi airspace on October 11, following an earlier European advisory, and aviation safety group OPSGROUP recommended avoiding the southern Middle East corridor entirely, rerouting Europe-to-Asia flights over Central Asia at the cost of longer journeys and reduced access to hubs such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Its founder, Mark Zee, called the sustained assault on civil aviation “unprecedented”, urging operators to “tread very carefully”.
What travellers should expect
Passengers booked through Riyadh should assume disruption beyond the October 17 date: airlines typically need several days to rebuild schedules after an airspace closure, and carriers may restore services in phases. Travellers with connecting itineraries should check rebooking options now rather than wait for cancellation notices. The crisis is a reminder that civil aviation is becoming a target in armed conflict, a shift the industry will have to price in long after Riyadh’s runways reopen. Diplomatic calendars, meanwhile, keep moving, including a possible November Asia meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un that will put leaders’ own air travel back under the spotlight.
Sources: Channel News Asia: Saudi capital’s airport to remain shut this week; The Business Standard: Riyadh airport shutdown extended through 17 October
