Why Riyadh's airport is shut: the Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia explained

Why is Riyadh’s main airport closed?

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation suspended operations at King Khalid International Airport after a missile hit a passenger terminal on Saturday 10 October, and has extended the closure since. The strike killed 13 people and injured more than 300, the deadliest attack inside the kingdom in more than a decade.

The authority says it needs time to “allow for the completion of procedures to ensure the safety and operational readiness of the airport’s facilities”. It has not given a reopening date. On Sunday, the airport cancelled 99.7% of its scheduled flights, according to the aviation data firm Cirium.

Who is firing at Saudi airports?

Yemen’s Houthi movement, which controls the capital Sanaa and is backed by Iran. The Houthis claimed the missile strike on Riyadh’s airport on 8 October, and on Monday their military spokesman Yahya Saree said a ballistic missile had hit the airport again: “the hit was precise.”

The group has told airlines to keep out of Saudi airspace, calling any aircraft there a target, with an exception for flights serving Mecca and Medina. Its media chief wrote on X that the Houthis had “shut down Riyadh international airport.”

Why now?

A 2022 truce between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis broke down this summer, and the fighting has escalated since. After the truce fell apart, the Houthis seized the Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, from Saudi-backed government forces. The fighting in Yemen has flared again in the wake of the US-Israeli war on Iran that began in February.

The Houthis say the airport strikes are retaliation for Saudi attacks on the airports in Sanaa and Hodeidah. Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s government have carried out hundreds of strikes on Houthi-held territory, and the Houthis say these have killed civilians. Saudi Arabia first entered Yemen’s war in 2015 to drive the Houthis out of Sanaa.

A week of strikes on Saudi airports

1. 6-7 OctAttacks on Abha and Riyadh airports kill three people and injure 36.
2. 8 OctHouthi missile hits Riyadh airport; a Saudia pilot and two other Saudi citizens are killed.
3. 10 OctMissile strikes a passenger terminal in Riyadh, killing 13, including an Indian, and injuring more than 300. Airport shut.
4. 11 OctTerminal 4 in Riyadh hit, one killed; Dammam airport also targeted.
5. 12 OctClosure extended. Saudi energy minister promises a serious response.

How is Saudi Arabia responding?

With promises of a firm reply, a request to the UN and talk of help from allies. “The events of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious,” Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in Riyadh on Monday. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen called Saturday’s attack a “full-fledged war crime”.

Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s government asked the UN Security Council to act on 9 October. Pakistan and Türkiye have agreed to deploy troops under a defence pact with Saudi Arabia. US President Donald Trump, asked whether the US would join Saudi strikes on the Houthis, said: “We may. We’re gonna look at it.” The Houthis said Saudi air strikes on Sanaa overnight into Monday killed one person.

What does it mean for Indians?

One Indian has been killed and others injured, and travel to Riyadh has stopped. Mohammed Yusuf Ali, from Hyderabad, died after the 10 October strike, in which 11 Indians were hurt. Three remain in intensive care in a stable condition, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said.

About 27.5 lakh Indians live in Saudi Arabia, according to government figures given to Parliament. The embassy has asked them to stay alert, stay indoors when necessary and follow local instructions, and not to share videos of the attacks. Its 24-hour helpline, the Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra, is on 8002471234.

Air India and Air India Express had already cancelled Riyadh flights until 10 October after the earlier attacks. Air India Express alone runs 16 flights a week to Riyadh from Bengaluru, Kochi, Kannur and Kozhikode. While the airport stays closed, no flights can operate.

What happens next?

That depends on whether the strikes stop and when Saudi engineers clear the airport. Lufthansa has cancelled Riyadh flights until 16 October, Air France-KLM until the end of the month, and Delta has pushed back its planned Atlanta-Riyadh service to March 2027. Riyadh is due to host its flagship Future Investment Initiative conference later this month.

The wider risk for India is oil. Brent crude has stayed above $100 a barrel, and attacks on tankers in the Gulf this week left two Indian seafarers missing.