Saudi Arabia extends closure of Riyadh airport after Houthi attacks

Saudi Arabia has extended the closure of its main airport in Riyadh following a series of deadly attacks over the weekend, disrupting air travel across the region.

The Saudi civil aviation authority said that operations at King Khalid International Airport would remain suspended while officials completed safety checks and assessed whether its facilities were ready to resume operations.

The airport, the kingdom’s second-busiest after Jeddah, has been closed since Saturday’s attack, which killed 13 people and injured more than 300, according to a report. Another attack on Sunday killed a Pakistani national and left nearly a dozen others injured.

The incidents have caused major disruption to Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector, which is already facing challenges from the wider conflict in the Middle East.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that 99.7 per cent of scheduled flights at the airport were cancelled on Sunday. Flightradar24’s tracking data also showed no aircraft flying over Riyadh at the time.

The shutdown has prompted airlines in Europe and Asia to suspend services. The US Federal Aviation Administration also advised American carriers on Sunday to exercise caution when operating flights to or over Saudi Arabia.