Riyadh airport reopens after Houthi attacks: what it means for PIA flights and Pakistanis

Saudi authorities say Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport will restart flights from Sunday, 25 October, with Terminal 1 handling domestic flights and Terminal 2 international ones, both run by Saudi national carriers. The announcement came hours after Yemen’s Houthis claimed fresh attacks on the airport and on oil sites across the kingdom, ANI reported.

For the many Pakistanis who live in or travel to Riyadh, the key fact is unchanged: PIA suspended its own Riyadh flights earlier this month and no restart date has been announced.

What happened on Saturday

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Rabigh refinery, the East-West oil pipeline, King Fahd Airport in Dammam, Najran Airport and the Khamis Mushait airbase. He again called the Riyadh airport a “military target” and told airlines, workers and travellers to stay away. These are the group’s claims; damage at the listed sites has not been independently confirmed.

The Saudi-led coalition’s spokesman, Maj Gen Turki Al-Malki, said air defences shot down two ballistic missiles fired towards Taif and Yanbu. Emergency alerts warning of a “hostile aerial threat” went out in Makkah province, Jeddah, Yanbu and Taif on Saturday, and authorities later said the danger had passed in each.

How we got here

The Houthis and Saudi Arabia have been in a sharp cross-border escalation for weeks. An attack on King Khalid Airport earlier this month killed 12 people and injured 309, according to Saudi civil aviation figures cited by IANS and Xinhua. Saudi authorities then shut the airport.

On 11 October Saree warned that all Saudi airports and airspace were “exposed to targeting”, with only the airports in Makkah and Madinah excluded, IANS reported. UN envoy Hans Grundberg called the attacks on civilian sites “a grave escalation”.

What it means for Pakistani travellers

• PIA Riyadh flights: suspended since 9 October. The Pakistan Airports Authority said at the time that flights to the rest of Saudi Arabia were “continuing as usual”, Geo News reported. PIA has not announced a return to Riyadh.
• Saudi carriers: the reopened Riyadh terminals are for Saudi national airlines, so check directly with the Saudi airline if you are booked with one.
• Umrah: the Houthi warning has so far excluded the Makkah and Madinah airports, but Makkah province did get Saturday’s alert. Pilgrims flying into Jeddah or Madinah should confirm flights with their airline and tour operator before leaving home.
• Workers in Saudi Arabia: Saudi Civil Defence asks residents to follow safety alerts, avoid gatherings and filming during an alert, and call 911 in an emergency.

Our take

Saudi Arabia has one of the biggest Pakistani communities abroad and is one of the top sources of money sent home, so every closure of a Saudi airport is felt in Pakistani households, from delayed Umrah trips to workers stuck on either side. Reopening Riyadh with only Saudi carriers looks like a cautious test rather than a return to normal, especially with the Houthis still naming the airport as a target.

The next things to watch are whether foreign airlines, including PIA, follow the Saudi carriers back to Riyadh, and whether the Houthis keep their exception for the holy cities.