The skies over the Saudi capital Riyadh were virtually empty on Monday as authorities extended the suspension of operations at the city's international airport after deadly weekend attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.
General view of the highway leading to the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone
The skies over the Saudi capital Riyadh were virtually empty on Monday as authorities extended the suspension of operations at the city's international airport after deadly weekend attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.
Operations at King Khalid International Airport, Saudi Arabia's second-busiest airport after Jeddah, were suspended to "allow for the completion of procedures to ensure the safety and operational readiness of the airport's facilities", the Saudi civil aviation authority said in a statement.
The airport has been shut since an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. On Sunday, another attack killed one person and injured nearly a dozen others.
The attacks marked one of the most significant disruptions to Saudi aviation in years, adding to pressures on an industry already grappling with conflict across the Middle East and with higher jet fuel prices that are eating into profits.
The airport cancelled 99.7% of all scheduled flights on Sunday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. An air traffic tracker from Flightradar24 showed planes avoiding the city on Monday, though jets were crossing Saudi airspace and landing at top hub Jeddah on the country's west coast.
The disruption has forced airlines across Europe and Asia to suspend services, while the Federal Aviation Administration advised US carriers on Sunday to exercise caution when flying to or over Saudi Arabia. EU aviation body EASA widened a Saudi airspace warning on Friday, citing missile and drone attacks.
Lufthansa Group has cancelled all flights to Riyadh until October 16, while Air France-KLM has extended a previous suspension of services to and from the Saudi capital until the end of the month.
Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways was among the airlines that further extended Saudi flight cancellations, affecting around 20 flights to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam on Monday and Tuesday.
The escalation with the Houthis has raised concerns over the broader economic impact. Saudi Arabia's real GDP is projected to contract by 3.6% this year, reflecting a combination of factors including lower oil activity.
The attacks have put events scheduled in Riyadh this month under pressure, including the kingdom's flagship investment conference and the WPC Energy Congress, where several top oil executives were dropped from the programme.
By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Menna AlaaElDin
S&P Global Ratings has kept Israel’s sovereign credit rating at ‘A’ with a stable outlook. Despite months of security and economic upheaval, the agency sees no reason to change its view of the country’s credit risk.
An American military aircraft fired on and disabled a commercial vessel that tried to break the US blockade of Iran on Saturday, US Central Command said.
Windows were blown out across several floors of Saudi oil giant Aramco's corporate office in the heart of the financial district of the capital Riyadh on Sunday by what the energy ministry said was debris from an attempt to attack the building.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.