Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group’s forces carried out a ballistic missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and that the target was hit, in a statement carried by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency. Saree urged international airlines, their employees and passengers to avoid Saudi airspace. Saudi authorities had not confirmed the attack or any damage. In the early hours of Wednesday, Saudi Civil Defense issued a warning about a potential hazard in the Riyadh region and later declared it over, and the Indian embassy announced the death of an Indian citizen wounded in the October 10 attack on the airport.
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Theme: Aviation security
Wire
At least seven passenger flights and an Israel-bound cruise ship were targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday, according to officials. All planes landed safely and searches found no explosives. The airlines affected were Ryanair, Wizz Air, Scandinavian Airlines and Polish carrier LOT, with four Ryanair flights among the targets. Two Italian Eurofighter jets escorted a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Fiumicino Airport in Rome. London police said they had been informed of threats against four aircraft due to depart from or arrive at Heathrow and of a further alert in Manchester. The European Commission said it is monitoring the alerts and that it is too early to establish links between the incidents.
At least seven flights and a cruise ship in Europe received bomb threats on Tuesday, causing disruption at airports, and no devices were discovered. Two flights to Warsaw, two to Sofia, two to Rome and one to Murcia airport in Spain were targeted; an airport in Warsaw was briefly shut and the Italian Air Force accompanied one of the flights to Rome. The UK government described the incidents as “malicious hoax threats,” and authorities from various countries will cooperate to assess whether this was a coordinated action designed to disrupt airspace. The Panama-flagged cruise ship Crown Iris, preparing to depart the Greek port of Syros for Haifa, was searched by a bomb disposal team and had 940 passengers and 597 crew members on board. According to Greek media, the captain received a warning directly by radio saying that an explosive device had been placed on the hull below the waterline; an initial search found no suspicious objects, and a second, more thorough inspection by the Coast Guard’s underwater missions unit was expected.
Four planes landed safely after bomb threats were made across Europe on Tuesday, among them two Warsaw-bound flights and a Scandinavian Airlines flight that departed from Copenhagen. Polish officials said they had received bomb threats involving two Warsaw-bound flights, but the planes landed safely and no explosives were found. A Ryanair plane from Manchester made an emergency landing at Murcia in southern Spain, with no explosives found; a fourth flight, from Israel, was forced to land in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Scandinavian Airlines plane landed at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, where a security inspection did not turn up any explosive devices, and the airport closed a landing strip but was able to continue operating. The Times of Israel treated the incidents as hoax threats that forced the temporary closure of an airport.
Warsaw Modlin Airport resumed operations on Tuesday after a Boeing 737 Max arriving from London landed at 10:01 and passengers disembarked, and two aircraft that arrived from London and Copenhagen were being inspected after separate bomb threats. A second flight, an SAS plane from Copenhagen also bound for Chopin Airport, received a bomb threat and landed as scheduled. The threats come a day after a Wizz Air flight from London Luton made an emergency landing in Budapest, escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet.
Warsaw-Modlin airport is closed until further notice on Tuesday after the unplanned landing of a plane from London due to information on an explosive device on board, the airport said in a statement. Security services were verifying the reported threat, it added.
A 47-year-old Indian national was killed and another passenger injured when two helicopters collided while landing on Tuesday in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district, at Pheriche, according to police; the deceased was identified as Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu, a passenger aboard the Fishtail Air helicopter.
A Wizz Air flight from London Luton Airport to Sofia was escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet to Budapest after a mid-air bomb threat. The airline later confirmed an inspection had been “completed and nothing was found” and said the plane would depart again shortly.
Riyadh Air evacuated all aircraft from its home base and halted almost all flying for two weeks after Houthi attacks, according to the Jerusalem Post. Remaining flights began landing in Jeddah or at a small airport 200 miles from Riyadh. A Houthi attack on October 8 killed a Saudia pilot and destroyed an aircraft.
Israel began requiring airlines to submit crew information 48 hours before departure, among other steps to bolster security. According to the Times of India, the requirements apply to inbound and outbound flights by Israeli and foreign carriers and were ordered by Benjamin Netanyahu after a security review. The change follows the attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight carrying Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv, when Omani copilot Hamam al-Hammami allegedly attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar and tried to seize control of the aircraft.
The Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward Riyadh, according to the Middle East Eye, after the Houthis said on Sunday they had launched a fresh strike on the Saudi capitalʼs international airport, hours after flights were announced to have resumed, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh partially reopened on Sunday after two weeks of closure, as the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition continued to exchange attacks, according to the Xinhua news agency. The Houthis said they had launched dozens of ballistic missiles in three attacks against the kingdom, the first of them targeting King Khalid airport.
Yemen's Houthis said on Sunday they had launched a fresh strike on Saudi Arabia's international airport in the capital Riyadh, hours after the kingdom announced that flights had resumed, Middle East Eye reported. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X that the group had “conducted three military operations with dozens of ballistic missiles” and that the strike on the airport “achieved its target”. The claim comes from the group itself.
Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport said on Saturday that flights would resume on Sunday, October 25, after a two-week closure caused by Houthi attacks, according to Middle East Eye. Terminal 1 will be designated for domestic flights and Terminal 2 for international flights operated by national carriers. The closure followed a missile attack that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300 on October 10, according to Arab News.
Four pilots of the Philippine Air Force were killed after two SF-260 training aircraft were involved in an accident during a training flight at Fernando Air Base on Friday, the air force said in a statement on Saturday, according to the Hindustan Times. All remaining SF-260 aircraft have been temporarily grounded and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident.
A Saudi citizen and an Indian resident are among the two people killed in the attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Wednesday evening, according to the kingdom’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). Eight others were injured: Saudi, Indian, Yemeni, Bangladeshi and Nepalese nationals. The Indian Embassy said one Indian national is among the dead and two Indians were injured, and India’s Ministry of External Affairs called the attacks “completely unacceptable”.
The death toll from the attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam has risen to two, a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said. Eight people were injured, a figure unchanged from the first toll released on October 21. GACA said airport operations resumed and air traffic returned to normal. The Saudi government has not confirmed who carried out the attack, according to AeroTime.
One person was killed and eight wounded in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi civil aviation authority. The authority confirmed the toll on Wednesday evening, according to the Jerusalem Post. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said the injured were immediately taken to hospital, with conditions ranging from minor to severe, according to TRT World. The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Turki Al-Maliki, said air defences intercepted and destroyed four drones in the country's Eastern Province, in a post on X, according to Middle East Eye.
Israel’s Transportation Ministry notified United Airlines on Wednesday that one of its pilots has been barred from entering Israel as a crew member because of his history of Iranian sympathies, the Jerusalem Post reported. The Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Ministry forwarded information that the pilot, Sina Amjadian, shared political and pro-Iranian regime posts on his social media accounts.
Three strikes hit the runway and the electricity administration facilities at Al-Rayyan International Airport in Mukalla, in Yemen’s eastern Hadramout province, on Wednesday, with no injuries reported, according to state-run Hadramout TV, cited by TRT World. The channel broadcast footage it said showed the attack but did not specify the weapons used, and the Houthi militia had not claimed the episode as of publication, according to TRT World. Separately, state-run Saba reported that the Houthi militia had targeted Aden International Airport with a ballistic missile, without providing further details.
The international airport in Rzeszow, Poland, near the border with Ukraine, was closed to arriving and departing flights at the military’s request, a source in the air traffic control service of the Warsaw Flight Information Region told TASS. The source said the closure was “due to unscheduled military aviation operations aimed at ensuring the country’s security”, and gave no further details.
The United States issued security alerts dated October 18 covering 12 locations in the Middle East, among them Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Iran, Qatar, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Israel/Jerusalem, urging Americans in the region to exercise heightened vigilance, monitor airline operations and prepare for flight cancellations, airspace closures and sudden changes to travel plans. The notices cite the potential for hostilities to escalate beyond their immediate area and warn that Iran and groups supportive of Tehran may target US interests overseas. The US Embassy in the United Arab Emirates urged citizens in the Middle East to exercise heightened vigilance amid escalations in the region, Middle East Eye reported. The alerts do not by themselves confirm that airports have closed or that flights have been canceled.
A bomb threat against an Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna forced the plane to divert to Bulgaria on Sunday, according to Bulgarian authorities and the airline. The airline told AFP that 51 passengers and six crew were aboard and that a security search of the Airbus A320 was launched after it safely landed in Sofia about a half hour after the threat.
The United Arab Emirates prosecutor general said on Saturday that the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073, which was bound for Israel, attempted to carry out a “terrorist attack” with an axe during the flight. Captain Smit Machchhar described his reaction: “Immediately, my hand went to the knob that opens the door, and I screamed for my colleagues, screaming his name,” he told the Jerusalem Post.
Romanian F-16 fighter jets shot down two drones over the Black Sea some 20 kilometers southeast of the town of Sulina, moments after they had illegally entered the country, according to Le Monde. Romania’s Defense Ministry said two Romanian Air Force F-16s engaged the drones, according to TRT World. At least seven cargo vessels were hit by drones in the Black Sea this month, off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), leaving two people dead and at least 25 missing, according to The Hindu; Romanian President Nicușor Dan said in Brussels that two drones had hit the vessels but did not say whose they were, and warned there would be a reaction from the Romanian state.
The Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Thursday, killing five people and wounding 16, according to Al Jazeera. Al-Maashiq Palace was hit by five missiles, according to Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani. On Friday, two missiles landed on the grounds of Aden International Airport as a passenger plane prepared to take off for Cairo.
Kuwait Airways canceled two flights in and out of Riyadh, citing the closure of the airport and the “security situation” there, the airline said on Saturday (October 10, 2026).
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defense forces repelled an attack by 75 Ukrainian drones heading for the capital, according to the Russian agency TASS. There were no preliminary reports of casualties or damage, and the drone raids disrupted air traffic at airports across western Russia, including Moscow’s Domodedovo and Zhukovsky.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Tel Aviv was denied clearance for takeoff after police received a phone call claiming a bomb had been planted on board, according to The Jerusalem Post. It was the second case that day: on Tuesday morning, another Delta aircraft that landed at Ben-Gurion Airport was searched, and the incident ended without any unusual findings. Authorities suspect the same person called in both threats.
Two Maldivian pilots employed by flydubai were taken into custody in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on October 3, and their families have been formally informed of their detention by the Maldivian embassy in the UAE, according to The Hindu. Flight FZ1073, carrying 174 passengers and crew members, was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the alleged attack took place. The UAE has described the incident as an attempted terrorist attack and identified the accused co-pilot as 29-year-old al-Hammami.
Nuremberg airport in Germany briefly suspended flights over an “aviation emergency”, according to The New York Times. Fighter jets were scrambled to escort a flight from Corfu, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Suspensions of flights to and from Riyadh now cover several international airlines, which extended cancellations through October 19 after Houthi attacks, and Delta has postponed its first direct US flights to Saudi Arabia to March 2027, according to France24.
Etihad cancelled flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, citing “regional disruption”, according to Middle East Eye, and Qatar Airways temporarily suspended flights to and from Riyadh and Dammam, according to the same outlet. Saudi Arabia extended until Saturday the suspension of operations at King Khalid airport in Riyadh, after attacks that killed at least 18 people, according to Al Jazeera.
The Houthis said they hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile in a precise strike and an airbase in Khamis Mushait with a drone, and warned international air carriers and passengers against flying to Saudi airports, according to TASS. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed a ballistic missile fired towards Riyadh, according to G1.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation extended the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh to complete the necessary procedures to verify the safety of the facilities and their operational readiness, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Middle East Eye. A new attack hit Riyadh’s international airport on Sunday, a day after another attack on the airport killed at least 12 people and injured more than 300, according to France24. US government employees in Saudi Arabia now require special authorization to use the airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, according to Sputnik. The United Kingdom updated its official guidance on Sunday to advise against all but essential travel to all airports in Saudi Arabia except Medina International Airport.
Saudi Arabia is reportedly running low on interceptor missiles amid intensifying Houthi strikes, and the death toll from the 10/10 attack on King Khalid International Airport rose to 13 after an injured Indian national died, as confirmed by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, according to the Hindustan Times. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree reiterated on Sunday the warning to airlines, businesses and travellers against operating flights to Saudi airports, as unsafe, according to the same paper.
The United States (US) Department of State urged on Sunday “extreme caution” at all major airports in Saudi Arabia, following the attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh the day before, according to Xinhua. The US mission advised citizens to avoid the Riyadh airport and said that US government employees require special authorization to use the airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, according to Arab News.
India's embassy in Riyadh asked Indian nationals in Saudi Arabia to refrain from sharing and circulating videos related to the ongoing events. The embassy said one Indian national died in the attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and that three others are in intensive care, in stable condition.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told US airlines on Sunday to exercise caution when flying to or over Saudi Arabia, citing safety threats tied to ongoing military activity, with potential risk at all altitudes, including overflight, arrival and departure. Riyadh airport remains closed to flights through at least 5 p.m. EDT Monday, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Sunday’s strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh left one person dead and 11 wounded, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority. The person killed was a Pakistani national living in the country, according to TASS. Saudi Arabia said Sunday that it would “respond decisively” against the Iranian-backed Houthis, a day after a strike on Riyadh’s international airport, according to The Washington Post.
A new attack struck a passenger terminal at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Sunday, starting a fire and injuring people, according to Middle East Eye. Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said the attack “resulted in injuries” but gave no figure, and confirmed there are casualties, according to Sputnik Globe. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree renewed his warning against using Saudi airports and airspace, according to Middle East Eye.
An unidentified projectile struck one of the passenger terminals at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday, causing a fire, according to the Saudi-led coalition. Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said the projectile struck Terminal 4 and that emergency teams were working to contain the fire. On Saturday, a separate attack on the same airport killed 12 people and injured more than 300.
The Houthis renewed their warning on Sunday to airlines, workers and travelers not to use airports in Saudi Arabia and said the warning should be taken seriously, after the attack on Riyadh’s international airport. According to Saudi authorities, cited by The Jerusalem Post, Saturday’s attack left 12 dead and more than 300 wounded. Saudi civil aviation extended the closure of King Khalid airport until 5 p.m. (UTC-4) on Sunday, under a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM). India condemned the attack, cited the 12 dead and more than 300 wounded and called attacks on civilians completely unacceptable.
Drone debris fell on the grounds of Sochi airport, in residential areas and hotels, in Russia's Krasnodar region, according to the regional emergencies headquarters, TASS reported. The debris hit an administrative building at the airport, where the fire was quickly extinguished, and damaged the roof of a house, starting another fire. No one was injured.
Air France has agreed to enforce an Israeli order barring pilots and cabin crew of certain nationalities from flights to Israel, including those from Muslim-majority countries, according to a Mediapart investigation reported by Middle East Eye. The restrictions cover 31 nationalities, including Algerian, Tunisian, Iranian and Pakistani citizens, and also affect French citizens with dual nationality. Israel's Ministry of Transport issued the directive on October 1, requiring crew in Israeli airspace not to hold the nationality of a country without diplomatic relations with Israel, according to Israeli broadcaster N12.
The King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh temporarily suspended operations after an attack on Saturday that wounded several people, according to France 24. Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said the number of wounded was still being assessed and that operations remained suspended pending the completion of the damage assessment and the verification of the safety of the facilities, according to France 24. Reuters reported that several people were wounded in the attack, according to the civil aviation authority. A diplomatic source attributed Saturday’s attack to a missile fired by the Houthis, and the group did not announce a new attack on Saturday, according to France 24.
A loud explosion was heard at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, with parts of the terminal evacuated and more than a dozen ambulances rushing to the site, according to an eyewitness and people briefed on the matter cited by Reuters, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post. The airport suspended operations and stopped serving inbound and outbound flights, TASS reported. Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways canceled multiple flights between their hubs and Riyadh, with some cancellations extending into Monday, according to Reuters. A medical source told AFP that dozens of people were injured at the airport, at least five of them in intensive care, in a strike that a diplomatic source attributed to the Houthis, according to Middle East Eye. The airport had already been attacked twice this week, leaving four people dead, others wounded and an aircraft damaged, according to Reuters.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Public Prosecutor said an Omani flydubai co-pilot planned to carry out a suicide attack on flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30, according to The Jerusalem Post. Reuters reported that the co-pilot intended to seize the flight and crash it into a terminal at Ben Gurion airport in Israel.
The United States (US) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued alerts after the Houthi attacks on Riyadh airport. The US Embassy in Jordan issued a travel advisory to Americans in the Middle East, pointing to the Houthi attack on Riyadh airport, and EASA recommended that airlines not operate within additional portions of Saudi airspace.
Saudi Arabia confirmed three deaths in attacks on airports over two days, with two people killed and 28 wounded in Abha, according to the BBC. Three Saudi citizens were killed in two Thursday attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and a Saudia aircraft, according to the Associated Press.
India advised its nationals in Saudi Arabia to remain alert and follow local authorities, condemned the attacks on civilian infrastructure as completely unacceptable, and saw Air India and Air India Express flights to and from Riyadh cancelled until October 10, 2026, according to The Hindu.
Israelis remain stranded in Dubai as Israeli airlines cancel rescue flights, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The Houthis said they struck Riyadh airport with a ballistic missile, badly damaging a plane, according to The Guardian. Lufthansa and Air India suspended flights to Riyadh. Saudi Arabia did not comment on the claim but confirmed three killed in airport strikes earlier this week.
Israeli police opened a preliminary review into the Transportation Ministry’s aviation security system, against the backdrop of the attempted hijacking of flydubai flight FZ1073 on September 30, according to The Jerusalem Post. The review examines a possible conflict of interest involving Dvir Rubinstein, who privately provided consulting and training services to foreign airlines, including flydubai and Emirates, while working for the ministry. No one connected to the affair is currently being questioned under caution by the National Unit for Fraud Investigations, and no criminal investigation under caution is being conducted into anyone involved.
Co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami, 29, an Omani citizen, was restrained in an alleged attempt to take control of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv with 182 people on board on 30 September and spent 175 days in New Zealand on a student visa, from 30 November 2018 to 23 May 2019, for part of flight training, according to The Guardian, citing New Zealand police confirmation of the stay. flydubai’s fast growth raises questions about recruitment and vetting after the attempted hijacking, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), in a text republished by the Hindustan Times.