The regular missile attacks by the Houthis from Yemen against Saudi Arabia’s airports – and especially those in the Eastern Province –‘Riyadh International Airport, They are forcing the national company Saudia to fundamentally alter its services, redirecting part of its flights to the airports of Dammam, Jeddah and Al Qassim.
Saudia has thus decided to significantly reduce its presence at Riyadh King Khalid International Airport. The number of departures from the capital’s airport scheduled between October 25 and November 30, 2026, decreases from 5,814 to 1,223 one-way flights. The frequencies decrease significantly on the major routes served by the national carrier. Riyadh–Djeddah decreases from 922 to 316 flights, Riyadh–Dubai from 344 to 72, and Riyadh–London–Heathrow from 90 to 42. The service to Paris-Charles de Gaulle is also affected: it drops from 37 to 11 monthly flights over the period. Riyadh–Cairo also declines from 148 to 35 flights.
This decline is nevertheless offset by a surge in activity since Dammam. At the airport in the northeast of Saudi Arabia, near Bahrain, Saudia plans three weekly flights to Beijing Daxing, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Manila. The Dammam–London-Heathrow connection will increase from three to ten weekly flights. These flights will be operated with Boeing 777-300ER and 787-9 aircraft.
Medine is adding additional routes to Alexandria, Bangkok, Casablanca, Delhi, Paris, Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. The airport in Al Qassim, 400 km northwest of Riyadh, will meanwhile welcome flights to Frankfurt, Geneva, Rome, Vienna and Istanbul, as well as to Alexandria, Amman, Cairo and Dubai.
Several routes are being eliminated, notably Riyadh–Gizan, Riyadh–Mascate and Riyadh–Nejran. Meanwhile, the launch of the Riyadh–Tokyo Narita route is now postponed to December instead of November.
For business travelers, it is therefore necessary to check their reservation thoroughly with the airport of arrival in Saudi Arabia. However, the airline will offer shuttle buses upon arrival to the original final destination. With transfer times consequently lengthening by several hours.
