Houthi attacks on airports threaten Saudi recovery

• Incident at King Khalid airport in Riyadh
• Claimed as ‘ballistic missile attack’
• Flights disrupted and markets unsettled

Flights to and from Riyadh were disrupted on Thursday after what the Houthi militia said was a ballistic missile attack on a commercial passenger jet – another strike reaching deep into Saudi Arabia.

The group’s attacks are beginning to weigh on the wider Saudi economy, unsettling markets, disrupting businesses and raising concerns over travel and the country’s important end-of-year events season.

Smoke could be seen coming from a Saudia aircraft at King Khalid International Airport, according to eyewitnesses who reported injuries sustained by people on the ground.

The Houthi militia claimed the attack in a social media post on Thursday afternoon. The Saudi authorities have not yet confirmed the strike.

Riyadh Air told AGBI that it had paused flights following “an incident at King Khalid airport”.

Saudia did not respond to requests for comment, but the flag carrier cancelled 70 percent of its scheduled departures from Riyadh airport on Thursday, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company.

Separate strikes hit King Khalid airport and Abha airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and Wednesday. Three people were killed and dozens more injured in those incidents.

The attacks on air infrastructure could have serious consequences for the Saudi economy, analysts said.

• Riyadh Air grounds flights after Houthis claim missile attack
• Saudi Arabia warns Houthi attacks will not go unpunished
• Editor’s Insight: Mokha retaken, but the Houthis are not done yet

The Houthis said in a statement on Thursday morning that Saudi airspace was “a theatre for our military operations” and international airlines should avoid any part of the country except the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

“The Houthis understand that they do not need to overwhelm the entire system to achieve strategic effects,” said Andreas Krieg, a political risk analyst at King’s College London.

“A handful of successful strikes can undermine investor confidence, disrupt aviation and force Riyadh to divert enormous resources towards defence.”

In a later statement, the Houthis also warned employees at Saudi oil facilities that they were “targets for our forces”.

The group has hit oil infrastructure across the country in recent months.

A series of explosions were heard across Riyadh on Thursday morning, according to residents who spoke to AGBI.

This was followed by an apparent suspension of flights from King Khalid airport, according to tracking website FlightRadar24.

Workers in buildings near the airport and other major commercial buildings around the capital told AGBI that they were evacuated or given the option to work from home. Shrapnel from the interception of a ballistic missile damaged a children’s nursery and a medical clinic, according to a statement by the Saudi Civil Defence agency.

On Thursday afternoon the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia posted on social media that Air India had cancelled flights to and from Riyadh until October 10.

The Tadawul All-Shares Index, which tracks the main market of the Saudi Exchange, fell by almost 2 percent on Thursday to hit its lowest point since January 5.

The country has begun its end-of-year events season, which is even busier than usual because of events rescheduled from the start of the conflict.

A number of concerts and conferences that were scheduled to take place at the end of 2026 have been cancelled or postponed, including the Red Sea Film Festival and the New Global Sport Conference.

“The Saudi business community is under serious pressure,” said one foreign diplomat.

Dozens of events had already been cancelled or pushed back in the early weeks of the US-Iran war. It had been hoped that some of this momentum could be recovered in the winter season.

The resurgence of violence between the Houthis and Saudi government could threaten that. A number of people told AGBI that the attacks had made them reconsider plans to travel to Saudi Arabia.

“It will put a lot of people off travelling,” the foreign diplomat said.