Riyadh airport reopens after two weeks of silence: King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia resumed flights on Sunday, 25 October, even as Yemen’s Houthi rebels warned airlines to stay away and vowed that the airport would “never be safe”. It is a small, tense step back toward normal life in the Saudi capital — and a test of whether airlines trust that promise of safety.
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The airport had suspended operations on 10 October following Houthi attacks that killed 13 people and injured more than 300 others, the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said the group had carried out 20 attacks on the airport between 1 and 11 October alone.
On Saturday evening, the airport announced that Terminal 1 would handle domestic flights and Terminal 2 would serve international flights operated by national carriers, starting Sunday. Flight-tracking data showed only a small number of aircraft taking off on Sunday, with most other flights still cancelled — a sign that airlines are returning cautiously, if at all.
Riyadh airport reopens: what resumed on Sunday
The Riyadh airport reopens in stages, not all at once. Domestic services restarted first, with international flights limited to national carriers through Terminal 2. The airport urged passengers with confirmed bookings to check their flight status with their airlines before travelling, a warning that reflects how uncertain the restart remains.
Early on Sunday, flight-tracking site Flightradar24 showed a plane taking off from Riyadh heading to the Saudi city of Jeddah, one of the first departures after the closure. The airport’s own website listed several domestic and international services, including flights from Dubai, Paris and Cairo, though actual traffic remained light.
Fresh threats and missile interceptions
Even as Riyadh airport reopens, the fighting around it continues. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree renewed his warning in a post on X, telling airlines, airport staff and travellers not to use King Khalid Airport because it remained a military target.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces renew their warning to all global, regional, and local airlines, as well as employees and travellers, against traveling through Khalid Airport in Riyadh, as it is unsafe, being a military target for our forces,” Saree said. “The Saudi regime bears the consequences of any operation of the airport and what will result from that, because the Armed Forces will continue their operations toward it and it will never be safe.”
On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted at least ten ballistic missiles aimed at southern Saudi Arabia. Saudi civil defence said shrapnel from the interception of two ballistic missiles over Khamis Mushait and Ahad Rafidah injured two people and damaged homes and vehicles. Emergency alerts were also issued for Riyadh and the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, before authorities said minutes later that the danger had passed. Three explosions were also heard in the Saudi capital on Sunday, according to an AFP journalist in the city.
Why Riyadh airport reopens matters beyond Saudi Arabia
The Riyadh airport reopens against the backdrop of a much wider war. The conflict has become an increasingly destabilising element in the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, turning Saudi Arabia, a close US ally, into a pressure point in the wider regional conflict.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter, and any threat to its airports and oil sites worries the wider world. The disruption has already forced Saudi Arabia to cancel some European oil shipments and seek alternative routes, while oil prices surge on supply concerns. For travellers, businesses and airlines, the question is simple: is it safe to fly to Riyadh again?
For now, the partial reopening is a signal of intent rather than a return to normal. Saudi Arabia wants to restart air travel in its capital, and the airport’s two-terminal plan shows how it hopes to do so. But the Houthis keep sending threats, the missiles keep coming, and whether airlines return in large numbers will depend on how safe the skies feel in the coming days. The fact that Riyadh airport reopens at all, under fire, is news in itself — but the story of whether it stays open is only just beginning.
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