Yemen’s Houthis on Sunday warned passengers against using Saudi airports after an attack on the airport in the capital Riyadh left 12 people dead and hundreds wounded.
“The Yemeni armed forces renew their warning to all aviation and navigation companies, experts, staff, workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X.
“The airports and airspace are exposed to targeting and constitute a theatre of operations for our forces, with the exception of the airports of Mecca and Medina,” he added, referring to the two holiest cities in Islam.
Operations at Riyadh’s international airport continue to be suspended following fatal attacks on the facility, a senior aviation source in the Saudi capital told AFP on Sunday, after authorities announced a temporary closure the night before.
“Riyadh airport has suspended operations again today. They informed us of this at dawn,” the source said.
A second source working in the aviation sector who helps oversee flights to Riyadh confirmed the halt in operations “until further notice”.
“The information we have is that operations are suspended until further notice and that some systems have been damaged — the radar and communications equipment,” the source told AFP, adding that the runways also needed to be assessed.
Air traffic monitor Flightradar24 noted the suspension, saying “the closure of Riyadh Airport has been extended by another 24 hours, until 21:00 UTC today”, in a statement posted on X.
