Two of Saudi Arabia's busiest airports came under attack this week, and the fallout matters for anyone with travel plans to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation confirmed that three people were killed and dozens wounded in strikes on Abha International Airport in the country's southwest and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the capital.
The victims were all foreign nationals. At Abha, a Moroccan and an Algerian resident died and 28 other people were wounded. The Riyadh strike killed a Sudanese national and injured eight more. Saudi authorities stopped short of naming a culprit, but Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility. Their military spokesperson said the group fired ballistic missiles and drones at King Khalid airport. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a missile north of Riyadh, and flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reported brief disruption to flights at the capital's main gateway.
Abha airport has been a repeat target of Houthi drones and missiles over the course of the conflict, sitting as it does near the Yemeni border. The rebels also claimed attacks on a military air base in Khamis Mushait and bases in Najran and Asir — all in the same southwest corner of the country.
The timing is no accident. Saudi forces and allied Yemeni troops have launched a major ground and air offensive to retake territory the Houthis seized last month along Yemen's Red Sea coast and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint through which roughly 12% of global trade passes. The rebels have been using those positions to press a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping, and analysts at the Institute for the Study of War note the group is deliberately striking civilian infrastructure — oil facilities and airports among them — to raise the economic cost for Riyadh.
There are visible signs of the heightened threat on the ground in the capital, too. New cage-like protective fencing has gone up this week around fuel tanks and equipment belonging to state oil giant Aramco near Riyadh airport. As the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia has seen a string of recent strikes on energy and military assets.
What does this mean for travellers? If you have flights booked into or out of Riyadh or Abha, expect the possibility of short-notice delays or diversions and keep an eye on your airline's updates. More broadly, many governments already advise against travel to parts of southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border — Abha and the surrounding Asir region included — and this latest escalation reinforces that guidance. Anyone travelling to the kingdom should check their foreign ministry's current advice and their airline's security notices before departure. Sources: Daily Sabah Travel
