King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh ground to a sudden halt on Saturday after a suspected attack left several people injured and triggered an immediate suspension of flight operations. Reuters reported that more than a dozen ambulances rushed toward the aviation hub, while a local hospital source told AFP that dozens of people sustained wounds during the chaos.
Operations across the Saudi capital’s primary aviation gateway ceased on Saturday afternoon, according to a statement from the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed the temporary closure as officials scrambled to assess damage and determine the exact number of injuries. Flight tracker data from Flightradar showed that all incoming flights to Riyadh were either diverted or cancelled in response to the security situation.
The violence follows a sequence of strikes earlier in the week. GACA reported that at least three Saudi citizens, including a pilot, were killed on Thursday in Houthi attacks at the airport. Those incidents followed Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports on 6 and 7 October that killed three people.
Witnesses inside the terminal described scenes of immediate panic. An eyewitness stationed near gate 401 in the domestic terminal told AFP, “I saw 401 hit, I saw injured in front of my eyes. Everyone was running.” Medical personnel faced an influx of casualties, with a local hospital source telling AFP that doctors were urgently summoned to handle what they were told was a “serious emergency situation.”
International Security Warnings and Flight Cancellations
Foreign governments responded swiftly to the conditions at King Khalid International Airport. The US embassy in Riyadh issued an advisory urging American citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office instructed British nationals to stay away “until the airport is secure and to monitor the advice of the Saudi authorities”.
Diplomatic missions from other nations similarly tightened safety postures. Embassies representing Ireland and Canada issued social media advisories warning citizens of a serious incident at the hub or ongoing military activity. Japan’s embassy “strongly” condemned Houthi attacks on airports and other Saudi civilian facilities.
Commercial aviation felt an immediate pinch as regional carriers pulled their schedules. Kuwait Airways announced the cancellation of its flights because the airport had closed due to a “security situation”. GACA advised passengers to contact their respective airlines directly for updated itineraries before attempting travel.
The Red Sea Chokepoint and Escalating Regional Conflict
The strikes on Riyadh represent a marked escalation in renewed fighting between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-backed Houthi movement, which controls most of northwestern Yemen. The Houthis maintain that their campaign targets Saudi Arabia in retaliation for its military support of the internationally recognized government. That civil war intensified dramatically after Houthi forces seized strategic stretches of the Red Sea coast, including the vital port of Mokha on the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
While a temporary ceasefire brokered in 2022 helped quell years of devastating air strikes and ground combat, that informal truce began to unravel in July. The Houthis subsequently announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia, initiating a wave of missile and drone assaults directed at Saudi airports, oil installations, and Red Sea tankers in response to what they termed a years-long Saudi blockade and a prior air strike on Sanaa airport.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Saturday regarding whether the United States might join Saudi military operations against the Houthis, President Donald Trump stated, “We may. We’re going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.” The Houthis have yet to claim responsibility for the latest attack, though the group has warned aviation companies to avoid using Saudi airspace, saying any aircraft operating there – except over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina – is a target.
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