Saudi Arabia extends Riyadh airport shutdown as Arab airlines suspend flights

Saudi Arabia on Monday extended the suspension of operations at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport following deadly attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement in recent days, without specifying when services would resume. An aviation source said the shutdown would remain in place until at least Thursday.

The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement that the suspension had been extended to allow the necessary checks to be completed to verify the safety of airport facilities and their operational readiness. 

A senior aviation industry source overseeing flights to the Gulf region said the airport would remain closed until the end of the Saudi working week, according to messages sent to the source’s company on Monday.

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“We were told that the suspension would continue until at least Thursday. There are no flights until the end of the week,” the source said, adding that terminals 3 and 4 had suffered significant damage.

A senior official at Riyadh’s metro network said the authorities had decided to suspend train services to the three stations serving the airport.

Several Arab airlines have announced the suspension or cancellation of flights to and from King Khalid International Airport.

Bahrain’s Gulf Air said on Monday that it had cancelled flights to and from Riyadh until Saturday.

In a statement, the airline said flights to and from Riyadh had been cancelled from 12 October until midnight on 17 October.

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