During the late evening hours local time on 10 October, Saudi Arabia announced that a projectile struck near Dammam's King Fahd International Airport. The attack came a day after Dhaifallah Al-Shami, a member of the Political Bureau of the Houthi movement, issued the following threat on Al Araby TV: "If Saudi Arabia does not stop its blockade and bombardment of our country, we will not limit ourselves to targeting Riyadh Airport.” This marks a significant escalation in the already destructive targeting of Saudi Arabia by Houthi drones and missiles.
Earlier on 10 October, a Houthi missile struck Terminals 3 and 4 at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport (RUH), killing at least 12 people and injuring 309. The airport suspended flights for at least 24 hours. Two days earlier, a Houthi drone struck an empty Saudia aircraft, destroying it and leaving three airport workers dead. The strike caused significant delays and a temporary closure of the airport.
Global Guardian recommends against non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia broadly, with location-specific recommendations below:
- Global Guardian advises against all travel to Riyadh's airport and southern Saudi Arabia, including the provinces of Aseer, Jazan, and Najran.
- Reconsider travel to Dammam.
- Travelers in Saudi Arabia should consider leaving the country while commercial flight options remain available.
- Travelers in Riyadh seeking to leave the country should consider alternative options such as overland transit to Jeddah, Al Hofuf, or even Bahrain or Qatar should Houthi targeting expand further.
Multiple airlines have suspended flights to Riyadh since 08 October, with more expected after today's attack. Multiple Western embassies have issued advisories warning against travel to the Riyadh airport, including the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Canada, and Spain. When asked about whether the U.S. would join Saudi strikes against the Houthis after the latest strike on RUH, President Trump said, "We may. We’re going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack. So we’ll make a decision." Any involvement by the U.S. against the Houthis is likely to elicit a response from Iran, which would pose a risk to personnel and operations in the Gulf states.
Outlook
While Saudi Arabia had been reluctant to close the airport in Riyadh until today, their demonstrated inability to intercept missiles and drones targeting RUH raises the chances that it closes airspace, or that airlines refuse to service the airport, potentially stranding thousands of travelers. Saudi Arabia has not cancelled either the Future Investment Initiative conference (FII) (26-29 October) or the World Petroleum Congress (11-15 October), both in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia will likely do everything it can to ensure FII continues as planned, possibly including a ceasefire with the Houthis before/during the conference dates.
Yemen's Houthis will continue to strike Riyadh's airport and expand beyond it, as demonstrated today by the targeting of Dammam. This will continue as long as Saudi Arabia is engaged against the Houthis in support of Yemeni government forces. The campaign against the Houthis is likely to continue for a considerable period of time. Firms with operations or personnel in Riyadh or Saudi Arabia broadly should anticipate ongoing flight disruptions.
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