Three Saudi nationals were killed and several people injured in two Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid airport on Thursday. The Saudi-led coalition vowed retaliation, while airlines including Lufthansa and Air India suspended flights to the capital amid the escalating war.
Key takeaways
Three Saudi nationals were killed and several people of various nationalities were injured in two attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said on Friday, marking a sharp escalation in the Houthis’ campaign against the kingdom. The attacks damaged airport facilities and a passenger aircraft belonging to state carrier Saudia, although airport operations have since resumed and air traffic has returned to normal.
A deadly week for Saudi aviation
The General Authority of Civil Aviation said the first of Thursday’s strikes hit airport facilities, while the second struck a Saudia aircraft. Injuries ranged from minor to severe, and the strikes caused damage. These deaths came on top of a deadly 48 hours: the authority said on Wednesday that one person was killed and eight wounded in a separate attack on the Riyadh airport, while two people were killed and 28 wounded in a strike on Abha airport in the southwest.
Yemen’s Houthis said on Thursday that they had carried out the strikes using cruise and ballistic missiles. The group also claimed to have targeted an airport in the southwestern city of Najran — a claim Saudi authorities have not confirmed — and the King Khalid Air Base at Khamis Mushait. The Houthis say they are striking the kingdom over its support for Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which has launched a counteroffensive to retake territory seized by the rebels in September.
The strikes sent smoke over Terminal 4 and damaged a parked aircraft, with flight tracker FlightRadar24 showing numerous delays on Thursday. Airlines cancelled hundreds of services, and Lufthansa and Air India suspended their flights to Riyadh.
Retaliation and a “long conflict”
A Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis vowed the attacks “will not go unpunished,” and said it had struck more than 80 Houthi military sites across the governorates of Saada, Hodeidah, Jawf and Marib. The Houthis’ leader warned Saudi Arabia to prepare for a long conflict, as his group targeted Saudi airports and military facilities for a third consecutive day.
The violence is an overspill of Yemen’s reignited civil war, entangled with the wider US-Iran confrontation. The renewed fighting has displaced more than 200,000 people, according to the International Organization for Migration, and clashes around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait threaten one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes — already a vital alternative since the US-Iran conflict restricted trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
Why it matters
The Houthis are striking at the heart of Saudi civilian life: the capital’s main airport, days before Riyadh is due to host a major meeting of global oil chiefs. After years of relative quiet, the threat to Saudi airspace has returned abruptly — with casualties, aircraft damage, and major airlines treating the risk as serious enough to suspend service.
For Pakistan, the escalation lands close to home. Riyadh has been seeking defensive support from allies, including Pakistan, under the Mecca defence pact, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara and Islamabad had discussed such support at an emergency meeting in Riyadh on October 5 — while ruling out sending Turkish troops into Yemen for offensive operations.
What’s next
Saudi Arabia has pushed for backing from regional allies as it tries to reverse Houthi gains in southwest Yemen, and Washington says it will not attack Iran before the US midterm elections. The immediate question is whether the Houthis can make good on their threat to force Saudi airspace to close — and whether Riyadh’s retaliatory strikes will deter further attacks or pull the region deeper into a war already acquiring new actors.
Sources
- Reuters — Houthi attacks kill three at Riyadh airport, Saudi Arabia says (Geo News) (October 9, 2026)
- CNN — Attack on Saudi airport kills 3 as Iran-backed Houthis warn of long conflict (CNN) (October 8, 2026)
- Reuters — Three killed in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports (The Express Tribune) (October 8, 2026)
- Reuters — Booms and flight disruptions in Riyadh as Saudi-Houthi war escalates (ThePrint) (October 8, 2026)
- Hurriyet Daily News — Houthi attacks disrupt Saudi flights as allies weigh support (Hurriyet Daily News) (October 9, 2026)
