Riyadh targeted again as PIA flights remain suspended

A ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh was intercepted early on Monday 26 October, a day after the airport reopened, and PIA's Riyadh flights remain suspended. Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence sent an aerial threat alert to telephones in Riyadh at 3.42am and lifted it minutes later; the Saudi-led coalition said its air defences destroyed the missile and that it then destroyed two launchers in Sanaa, one of which had fired it, and no casualties were reported. The Houthis said they had targeted King Khalid International Airport with the missile and oil pumping stations with drones; Saudi Arabia did not confirm either claim, according to Khaleej Times, and the group repeated that the airport remains a military target.

The airport reopened Terminal 1 for domestic flights and Terminal 2 for Saudi national carriers on 25 October, but flight tracking on Monday showed most scheduled departures cancelled, and Cirium data reported by Gulf News show 4,071 of 4,736 Riyadh departures, 85.96 per cent, cancelled or not operated between 8 and 25 October, against 21.97 per cent at Jeddah, 42.08 per cent at Dammam and 17.96 per cent at Madinah. Saudia is operating some Riyadh flights through Al Qassim and Dammam with a coach transfer to Riyadh, and Riyadh Air says that until further notice it flies only to and from Cairo, Dhaka, Jeddah, London Heathrow, Lahore and Islamabad, all through Al Qassim, according to The National's survey of 26 October, which again lists PIA's Riyadh flights as suspended with no date. The Pakistan Airports Authority's last statement said PIA's other Saudi services continue, and Gulf News listed no Pakistani route among the cancellations at UAE airports on 26 October.

Civil Defence also said that debris from the two ballistic missiles intercepted over the south on Sunday 25 October injured a Saudi citizen and an Asian resident in Khamis Mushait and Ahad Rafidah and damaged three residential buildings and seven vehicles, where earlier reports had said there were no casualties. Connections through the UAE are unchanged: Etihad's Riyadh, Dammam and EY601 to EY604 Jeddah services are cancelled through 5 November, flydubai's Riyadh, Dammam and Abha flights through 29 October, and Emirates lists Jeddah from 30 October and Riyadh and Dammam from 8 November while its Madinah flights operate. Pilgrims travelling from Pakistan should confirm their flight, their terminal at Jeddah and their onward transport to Makkah with the airline or their Umrah operator before leaving for the airport, and follow Civil Defence alerts while in the Kingdom.