Air traffic in Riyadh suspended until end of week after attacks
Saudi Arabia has banned flights at Riyadh until Sunday midnight after intensified attacks by Yemen's Houthis, including on the international airport. Several airlines have halted flights to the capital.
Flights in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, are banned until midnight on Sunday following intensified attacks on the country by Yemen's Houthis. The Houthis are an armed group based in Yemen, and they have recently increasingly targeted Saudi airports and oil facilities. The decision affects air traffic across the region.
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority cites preventive measures as the reason and says additional steps must be taken during this period to ensure flight safety.
Airline response
Bahrain's state-owned carrier Gulf Air and the airlines of Lufthansa Group have temporarily suspended flights to Riyadh.
Data from the flight-tracking platform Flightradar24 shows that air traffic is also severely disrupted in Dammam, in the east of the country, where attacks have recently taken place, and in the coastal city of Jeddah in the west. The United Arab Emirates news portal Gulf Business reports that almost 1,500 flights in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled because of the attacks.
Attacks on Riyadh
In recent days Saudi Arabia has reported attacks on Riyadh's international airport. Over the weekend, in one of the most serious attacks on Riyadh in recent years, at least 12 people were killed and more than 300 were injured.
Meanwhile, the Saudi government says it is trying to maintain peace and stability. On Monday, at an energy-focused congress in Riyadh, the country's energy minister stated: "The word 'fear' does not exist in the Saudi dictionary."