- Saudia cut planned one-way departures from Riyadh by 79pc through November 2026.
- International flights to Frankfurt and Guangzhou moved to Dammam.
- Domestic transit shifted to Al Qassim and Madinah.
- The Riyadh to Tokyo Narita launch was postponed.
- Passengers are bussed from Al Qassim to Riyadh adding four to five hours.
Saudia has reduced its planned one-way departures from Riyadh by 79pc through the end of November 2026. The reduction follows missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement targeting King Khalid International Airport. The airline is shifting several international and domestic services away from Riyadh to alternative hubs.
Dammam is receiving international flights originally bound for Frankfurt and Guangzhou. Al Qassim is becoming a node for shifted domestic transit including services from Neom Bay. Madinah is taking over regional international routes including services to Alexandria. Routes such as Riyadh to Muscat, Gizan and Nejran have been cancelled and the planned launch to Tokyo Narita has been postponed.
Carriers including Saudia and Riyadh Air are rerouting passengers to outlying airports and relying on land transfers. Passengers booking tickets to Riyadh are being flown into Al Qassim Airport and placed on coach bus connections to complete the final leg adding four to five hours of ground travel. Approximately 86pc of all scheduled flights at Riyadh Airport were grounded between 8 and 25 October 2026 and over 7,800 flights were cancelled across the kingdom.
