PIA Riyadh still suspended, Emirates Jeddah cut a third day

PIA's Riyadh flights stay suspended with no date to resume, and Emirates' first Dubai to Jeddah rotation was cancelled for a third day on 1 November. Gulf News's list for Sunday 1 November again shows PIA's Riyadh services temporarily suspended with no resumption date, and the Pakistan Airports Authority's last statement said PIA's other Saudi services continue. Saudia operates its Riyadh services through Al Qassim with coach transfers, flyadeal has moved all its Riyadh flights there with coaches from Riyadh bus station, and Riyadh Air has some Riyadh flights cancelled to 5 November, with flexibility for passengers travelling to 7 November.

Connections through the UAE remain limited: Emirates' EK801 to Jeddah and the return EK802 were cancelled for the third day running while EK803 to EK806 were scheduled, every Dubai flight to Riyadh and Dammam was cancelled and its Madinah services operated; flydubai's Riyadh, Dammam and Abha flights are cancelled to 5 November while its Jeddah, Madinah, Gassim and Ha'il flights operated; Etihad's Riyadh, Dammam and EY601 to EY604 Jeddah services are cancelled through 5 November; and Air Arabia's Sharjah flights to Riyadh, Dammam, Abha, Jizan and Tabuk were cancelled on 1 November. At Dubai International, Riyadh Air's RX241 and RX243, flynas's XY811, XY209 and XY211 and Saudia's SV552 serving Riyadh and flynas's XY205 serving Gassim were cancelled. Gulf News adds that King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh runs a 24-hour help desk and stores luggage for up to 15 days, and lists road routes, intercity coaches and Saudi rail as alternatives inside the Kingdom.

Among other airlines, Akasa Air extended its Jeddah suspension to 18 November and Riyadh to 30 November on 1 November, Air India and Air India Express now suspend Jeddah as well as Riyadh and Dammam to 14 November, Gulf Air has resumed Riyadh, and Gulf News's list still gives 31 October as the end date for Oman Air's Riyadh and SalamAir's Riyadh and Dammam cancellations with no later date announced, so pilgrims connecting through Muscat should confirm directly with the airline. No further interception has been reported since the hostile drone destroyed over the Riyadh region on the morning of Saturday 31 October: Gulf News's briefing of that evening recorded the two drones destroyed over the Eastern Province and the south early on Saturday and the Riyadh-region drone, with no casualties or damage, and neither its briefing of 1 November nor its flight list for the day reports a new incident. At the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain on 1 November, Saudi Arabia's deputy foreign minister, Waleed Elkhereiji, condemned the continued Houthi attacks on the Kingdom and the threats to commercial shipping and called for diplomatic solutions, and Pakistan's military spokesman, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, told Reuters that Islamabad is cautiously optimistic about its mediation between the United States and Iran while warning that some parties could try to undermine it.

Confirm your flight, your terminal at Jeddah and your onward transport to Makkah with the airline or your Umrah operator before leaving for the airport, treat Emirates' Jeddah schedule as subject to change, and follow Civil Defence alerts while in the Kingdom.