Riyadh Airport Lost 353 of 354 Departures on Sunday, and Airlines From Lufthansa to Cathay Are Cancelling Saudi Flights
The shutdown at King Khalid has no reopening date, 17 October is only the day the restriction expires, and the disruption has spread to Dammam, Jeddah and the carriers that serve them.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026/2 min read
If you are booked to fly into Riyadh this week, assume nothing. On Sunday, the day after a missile hit King Khalid International Airport's passenger terminal, 353 of 354 scheduled departures were cancelled or not flown, a rate of 99.7 percent, according to Cirium data reported by Aerospace Global News. Only one flight operated.
The airport is closed under a notice to airmen that runs "until at least 17 October." Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation extended the suspension on Monday while it checks the safety of the facilities, Travel and Tour World reported, with no date set for services to restart. The notice expires at 21:00 GMT on Saturday 17 October, but that is an expiry, not a guarantee that planes will fly. We covered the political side of the attacks in our news report.
Which airlines have cancelled Riyadh flights?
The cancellations come in layers, and the dates differ by carrier. According to the airline summaries compiled by Travel and Tour World, as of 12 October:
- Lufthansa Group has cancelled Riyadh flights until 16 October, and Air France-KLM has suspended services to the end of October.
- IndiGo and Air India have suspended Riyadh service until 15 October, and Gulf Air has cancelled Riyadh flights from 12 to 17 October.
- Philippine Airlines has suspended Riyadh until 29 November, and Cathay Pacific has postponed the resumption of Hong Kong to Riyadh through 31 January 2027.
- Delta has pushed back its Atlanta to Riyadh launch, planned for 23 October, to March 2027.
Gulf News added that flydubai has suspended Riyadh flights through 14 October. We first reported the Lufthansa suspension last week.
Is the rest of Saudi Arabia affected?
Yes. Cirium counted 623 of 1,096 Saudi departures, 56.8 percent, cancelled or not flown on Sunday. At Dammam's King Fahd airport 56 of 123 departures were affected. Saudia had 225 cancellations on Sunday, flynas 146 and flyadeal 120. Riyadh Air cancelled all 17 of its scheduled Sunday departures. Cirium's preliminary figure for Monday was 362 of 1,048 departures, 34.5 percent.
Travel and Tour World says there is no basis to assume every Saudi airport is closed, and it names Jeddah and Dammam as airports to check separately. The US Mission has restricted government staff from using Saudi airports without special authorisation, and the US advisory for Saudi Arabia remains at Level 3.
What should travellers do now?
Confirm your flight directly with your airline before going to any Saudi airport, and do not rely on an old booking confirmation. Check your connection if you are routing through Gulf hubs, and ask about refunds or free rebooking. The next fixed point is Saturday evening's notice expiry; the next real one is whether Saudi authorities announce a reopening date for terminal operations.
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