Lufthansa has suspended Riyadh flights until November 18, and Emirates services to Riyadh and Dammam are not due back until November 8, extending Saudi flight cancellations into next month, according to The National. The carrier-by-carrier list, published October 25, came as Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport partly reopened with only Terminals 1 and 2 in operation.
The suspensions follow a run of attacks on Saudi airports since early October by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group, as Khaleej Times describes it. For the Muslim-friendly travel trade, the damage already shows in demand. Khaleej Times reported in mid-October that UAE Umrah operators had seen new enquiries and bookings fall by around 50 percent. With the remaining suspensions ending on dates from October 29 to January 31, 2027, airlines and pilgrimage operators face a staggered calendar rather than a single reopening.
The depth of the disruption shows in Cirium flight data reported by Khaleej Times. More than 3,100 Saudi flights, or 40 percent of the total, were canceled between October 8 and 14, with the worst day on October 12, when 632 of 1,048 flights did not operate. Riyadh Air canceled 80 of its 113 flights between October 8 and 13, a rate of 70.80 percent, the highest of the four Saudi carriers in Cirium’s figures.
The other three Saudi carriers in Cirium’s figures each lost about half their schedules in the same window. Saudia canceled 1,091 of 2,273 flights, flynas 564 of 1,183, and flyadeal 496 of 975. How long the kingdom’s travel economy can absorb grounded flights at its main hubs depends on dates that are still moving. Air Arabia and Pakistan International have set no date at all for returning to Riyadh, The National reported.
Riyadh Took the Heaviest Hit While Jeddah and Medina Held Up Better
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh saw 296 of 334 departures canceled on October 13, according to Cirium data cited by Khaleej Times. That was a cancellation rate of 88.62 percent. Dammam’s King Fahd International lost 58 of 114 departures the same day.
The airports one Umrah operator turned to held up far better, by the same data. King Abdulaziz International in Jeddah canceled 105 of 370 departures on October 13, about 28 percent, and Medina’s Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz airport canceled 19 of 88, about 22 percent. Jaseem of Al Shammar Haj and Umrah Service told Khaleej Times in mid-October that his groups were on schedule and that passengers booked on canceled Riyadh flights were being moved to Medina or Jeddah.
That fallback has since narrowed. On October 25, Khaleej Times reported that Emirates had canceled flight EK 2537 to Medina, flydubai had canceled FZ 8387 to Medina, and Etihad had canceled flights to and from Jeddah. Al Jazeera reported the same day that Saudi air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles over Mecca province, with shrapnel falling in Jeddah, Taif, Rabigh, and Wadi Al-Mughammas. For operators selling halal tourism packages built around those two cities, the Medina and Jeddah reroute now faces cancellations of its own.
New Umrah Bookings From the UAE Fell by About Half in Mid-October
Umrah operators in the UAE told Khaleej Times in mid-October that customers who had already booked were not canceling, while fresh demand had dropped. “People who have already booked are not cancelling their Umrah trips. But new enquiries and bookings have reduced by around 50 per cent,” said Shihab Perwad of Rehan Al Jazeera Tours and Travels.
Travelers quoted by the paper described the same hesitation. Meeran, a Dubai resident, said a planned Umrah trip to Mecca had been postponed because of the current situation. Fazil Akbar, a Garhoud resident, said he was considering delaying his trip or taking an overland route if conditions did not improve.
The road option carries a different price. Khaleej Times put a bus package from the UAE at approximately Dh1,100 for 10 days, against flight packages starting from around Dh2,700. By those figures, the bus package costs less than half the starting price of a flight package.
Airline Suspensions Stretch From October 29 Into January 2027
Carriers from outside the Gulf hold the latest dated returns in The National’s October 25 tally. Air Arabia and Qatar Airways’ Dammam service have no return date at all. Most Gulf airlines are due back by November 8. The table below lists the main airlines and the dates The National gave for each carrier.
| Airline | Saudi routes | Suspended until |
|---|---|---|
| Cathay Pacific | Riyadh | January 31, 2027 |
| Lufthansa | Riyadh; Dammam | November 18; November 30 |
| Air France | Riyadh | November 14 |
| Emirates | Riyadh and Dammam; Jeddah | Due back November 8; October 30 |
| Air India, Air India Express | Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam | November 7 |
| Etihad Airways | Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah | November 5 |
| British Airways | Riyadh | Due back November 3 |
| Oman Air | Riyadh | October 31 |
| SalamAir, KLM | Riyadh, Dammam | October 31 |
| IndiGo | Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Medina | October 31 |
| flydubai | Riyadh, Dammam, Abha | October 29 |
| Air Arabia | Riyadh, Abha, Dammam, Taif | No date set |
Cathay Pacific has suspended Riyadh flights until January 31, 2027, and Delta Air Lines has postponed the launch of flights between Atlanta and Riyadh until March 2027, The National reported. Delta’s delay pushes back a new U.S. route into Saudi Arabia’s travel market rather than cutting an existing one. Its March 2027 date is the latest on The National’s list.
Carriers from farther afield face their own timetable. The National reported that Akasa Air has suspended Riyadh until November 30 and Jeddah until November 10, Philippine Airlines has suspended Riyadh until November 29, and Scoot has halted Singapore-Jeddah flights until December 2. Khaleej Times reported on October 25 that Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Fly Jinnah from Islamabad, and SyrianAir from Damascus had also canceled flights. Qatar Airways had suspended Riyadh until October 25 and has set no date for Dammam, The National reported.
Houthi Warnings Leave Riyadh Airport Return Dates Exposed
Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, called King Khalid International Airport a military target, Al Jazeera reported on October 25. He also renewed his warning to airlines, employees, and travelers. The same report said Saudi air defenses intercepted one drone and one ballistic missile over Riyadh. Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi condemned the barrage near Mecca as a violation of the sanctity of the Holy Sites, according to Al Jazeera.
The attacks have been deadly. The General Authority of Civil Aviation put the toll from the October 10 strike on King Khalid at 12 killed and 309 injured, Khaleej Times reported. The National reported that the death toll from that attack later rose to 13 after an Indian citizen died, and its timeline records that the Riyadh airport was struck four times in five days.
For airlines and Umrah operators, the next fixed points are days away. Flydubai’s suspension of Riyadh, Dammam, and Abha flights is due to end on October 29, Emirates is due to resume Dubai-Jeddah flights on October 30, and Oman Air, SalamAir, KLM, and IndiGo have suspensions running until October 31, according to The National.
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