Houthi Missile Strikes Keep Riyadh Airport Closed Through Mid-October

Saudi civil aviation authorities have extended the closure of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh until at least 17 October after repeated Houthi missile and drone strikes damaged terminals, destroyed aircraft and killed civilians.

The airport, which serves a metropolitan area of roughly eight million people, has been hit multiple times in the past week. A strike on 10 October killed 12 people and wounded more than 300, according to the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation. The dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese. An injured Indian citizen died the following day, raising the toll from that attack to 13. Subsequent projectiles on 11 and 12 October killed at least one more person, a Pakistani resident, and injured others.

Officials issued a notice to air missions indicating the facility would remain shut until 9 p.m. on 17 October. Airlines including IndiGo cancelled flights to Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah through that date. Earlier strikes this month also hit Abha, Jazan and Najran airports, and damaged a parked Saudia Airbus A320 along with other aircraft on the ground at Riyadh.

The Houthis, backed by Iran, claimed responsibility and warned international carriers against operating to Saudi airports. They described Saudi airspace as a military zone. The Saudi-led coalition called the airport attacks a war crime and said it would respond decisively. Saudi forces reported intercepting several missiles over Riyadh and Khamis Mushait in the same period.

The escalation follows the unravelling of a ceasefire in Yemen’s civil war. Saudi Arabia re-entered active combat operations earlier this year to push Houthi forces back from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and to support the internationally recognised Yemeni government. The latest wave of strikes on civilian aviation infrastructure has exposed gaps in Saudi air defence coverage around major population centres and has disrupted commercial traffic across the Gulf.

One Indian national was among those killed in the Riyadh terminal strike. Indian carriers adjusted schedules and issued passenger advisories. The Saudi foreign minister held a call with his Iranian counterpart in which Tehran offered to mediate, though no concrete steps have been announced. The attacks have also drawn statements from the United States, Israel and several Arab governments condemning the targeting of civilian airports.

Flight tracking data showed nearly half of scheduled departures from Riyadh cancelled or diverted on some days last week. Ground damage assessments continue at the passenger terminals. The Saudi civil aviation authority said wounded passengers and staff were transferred to hospitals and that property damage was still being quantified.

The pattern of successive strikes on the same facility, including direct hits on boarding areas, has raised questions about the reliability of interception systems under sustained attack. Coalition statements emphasise that launches originated from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen and that reciprocal strikes on launch sites are ongoing. No independent verification of interception rates has been released.

Commercial airlines from multiple countries have suspended or rerouted services. The extended closure compounds existing disruptions from earlier attacks on southern Saudi airports. For travellers and cargo operators, the immediate effect is longer diversions to Jeddah or other regional hubs and higher operational costs. Saudi authorities have not yet announced a reopening timeline beyond the current notice.

The strikes mark the deadliest attacks on Saudi civilian infrastructure in more than a decade. They occur while the broader Iran-linked conflict in the region continues, with Houthi forces also firing at shipping and other targets. Whether the airport remains closed past 17 October will depend on further launches and the coalition’s ability to suppress them.