Houthi attacks on Saudi airports have killed at least 14 people and disrupted civil aviation across the kingdom, with Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport struck four times in five days.
The latest assault, claimed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement, killed one person and injured nearly a dozen others at the Saudi capital’s airport on Sunday. It followed an attack the previous day that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
The escalation comes as fighting intensifies between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, after the collapse of a United Nations-brokered ceasefire that had largely held since 2022.
Saudi airports targeted in expanding attacks
King Khalid International Airport has been repeatedly hit. Saudi authorities said one person was killed and eight wounded on October 7, while a raid the following day killed an airline pilot and two other Saudi citizens and injured several others.
The Houthis also claimed responsibility for an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, the industrial port city on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast.
Two people were killed and 28 wounded in an attack on facilities at Abha International Airport on October 7, according to the civil aviation authority. Attacks reported at airports in Jazan and Najran on October 6 caused three injuries and minor injuries respectively.
Operations at Riyadh’s international airport have been suspended, leaving the skies over the Saudi capital largely empty. Lufthansa has cancelled flights to Riyadh until October 16, while Air France-KLM has extended its suspension of services to and from the city until the end of the month.
The UK, France and Germany have warned their citizens to avoid Riyadh. The disruption has come as Saudi Arabia hosts two major energy and investment conferences.
The World Petroleum Congress, attended by senior oil executives and policymakers, was due to proceed from Sunday to Thursday. The Future Investment Initiative, the kingdom’s flagship investment conference, is also scheduled to take place from October 26 to 29.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said at the petroleum congress that the kingdom’s resilience had been tested, while promising that its response would be “equally serious”.
Yemeni strikes add to pressure on airports
Houthi-run media reported on Sunday that Saudi air strikes had targeted the Airport Road area of Sanaa’s al-Thawra district and the Hamdan district. There was no information on the results of those attacks.
Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces also struck Sanaa airport on July 13, using at least five munitions. Three of the attacks directly hit the only working runway, according to the material reported.
The Houthis have controlled Sanaa and parts of north-western Yemen since 2014. Fighting is also taking place around the southern Red Sea cities of Mocha and Dhubab, which are strategically important because of their position near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Houthi-run media separately reported attacks on Hodeidah International Airport, on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, without giving details of the damage. Yemeni government representatives at the United Nations have alleged that airports in Houthi-controlled territory are used to transport Houthi delegations to and from Iran, which backs the group.
Hisham al-Omeisy, a conflict analyst and adviser at the European Institute of Peace, said the Houthis could widen their campaign to include oil pipelines and energy facilities. He said airports were likely to remain targets because of the strong “public response” to attacks on them.
“Houthis have escalated massively, they’ve crossed that line… they have their own frameworks, their own calculations and stopping at attacking a civilian airport is not one of those calculations,” Mr al-Omeisy said.
