Chaos across airports as Houthis claim Riyadh strikes
By Middle East Eye Staff
12 October 2026
Terminals across Saudi Arabia were left in chaos on Monday after repeated attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and warnings issued by Yemen’s Houthi group.
Several airlines halted operations and over a third of all planned flights in the country were cancelled.
Approximately 60 percent of flights set to depart from Riyadh on Monday were scheduled to be cancelled, while 99.7 percent of the airport’s flights were cancelled on Sunday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, cited by Reuters.
On Sunday, Flightradar24 reported that Riyadh and Dammam airports were closed.
Jeddah airport cancelled 156 flights, constituting 20 percent of all scheduled flights, while 374 flights, or 49 percent, were delayed.
Saturday’s attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and injured 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation.
The death toll subsequently rose to 13 after an Indian national who had been injured in the strike died, according to Reuters.
A separate attack on Sunday killed a Pakistani resident and injured 11 others, according to the Saudi authorities.
Airlines have also suspended services to the Saudi capital.
Reuters reported that Lufthansa cancelled flights to Riyadh until 16 October, while Air France-KLM extended its suspension through the end of October.
The US Federal Aviation Administration advised American airlines to exercise caution when operating in or over Saudi Arabia.
Houthi warning
Yemen’s Houthi movement has warned airlines, shipping companies, airport employees and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace, with the exception of airports serving Mecca and Medina.
In a statement posted on X on Sunday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group was renewing its warning to aviation and navigation companies, workers and travellers.
“The Yemeni armed forces renew their warning to all aviation and navigation companies, experts, staff, workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace,” Saree said.
“The airports and airspace are exposed to targeting and constitute a theatre of operations for our forces, with the exception of the airports of Makkah and Madina,” he added.
He urged people to “take our warnings seriously” and said Saudi Arabia would bear responsibility for failed interceptions.
The Houthis, officially called Ansar Allah, have claimed responsibility for the attacks on Riyadh airport, as well as additional strikes on Dammam airport and Saudi Aramco facilities, according to Reuters.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the group in Yemen described the deadly Riyadh attack as a “full-fledged war crime”.
International reaction
Several other regional and international nations have condemned the attack, including Iraq, the UAE, Qatar, Germany, France and Britain, as well as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres.
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting called the attack “contemptible” and a “dangerous escalation”, saying it explains “one of the reasons why the UK is providing support to Saudi Arabia in the form of air defences but also air-to-air refuelling” in an interview with Sky News on Sunday.
When asked if the UK’s support for the kingdom could go further, Streeting told the BBC that “potentially” it could.
The airport has faced repeated targeting from the Sanaa-based group, but this alleged attack would mark the most deadly escalation in their “tit-for-tat” strikes with the neighbouring Gulf state.
Houthi-affiliated media reported on Friday that Saudi strikes on the airport in the capital city of Sanaa killed two people, a day after their attacks against Riyadh airport killed three.
Sanaa is demanding that Saudi Arabia lift its land, air and sea blockade of Yemeni territory under Houthi control in what it describes as a "blockade for a blockade".
Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government have launched repeated strikes across Yemen, hitting civilian infrastructure, including airports, but this has not prevented the Yemeni group from being able to launch missiles and drones back at the kingdom.
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