Over 45% of Saudi Flights Cancelled Since Oct. 8, Riyadh Government Offices Move to Remote Work

Since Houthi missiles and drones began hitting Saudi airports on Oct. 6 and 7, the story has been about casualties and closed runways. The newer story is the economic damage spreading across the kingdom.

More than 45% of flight departures from Saudi airports have been cancelled since Oct. 8, according to aviation data firm Cirium. Cirium cancellation data also puts the rate at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport at 99.7% on the worst day, with more than 3,100 flights cancelled in total.

Riyadh goes remote

Government agencies in Riyadh told employees to work from home starting Monday, according to AFP, which cited workers and two consultants. The 99-storey Kingdom Centre tower, home to the regional office of the International Monetary Fund, has also moved to remote work, AFP reported.

The kingdom has also pulled the plug on a string of showcase events. The Future Investment Initiative, its flagship investment forum, was postponed until 2027 on Monday. Announcements have also been made concerning the MDLBEAST Soundstorm music festival, Riyadh Fashion Week and the Red Sea Film Festival. A star-studded tennis tournament has also been affected.

Those events were built to sell Saudi Arabia to foreign money. "Few want to visit a country under persistent deadly missile attacks. And even fewer want to invest in one," Karen Elliott House, author of a recent book about the crown prince, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Is Riyadh's airport open or not?

The reporting on this is contradictory. Times of India, citing AFP, reported that a regional airline source said Saudi authorities had told the carrier on Friday that the airport would remain closed until further notice, while a second airline source said it had been informed the closure would last at least until Oct. 24. Newsbytes likewise described the airport as shut until at least Oct. 24.

A separate aviation trade report from AviNews says something different: NOTAM A3604/26, the notice that grounded flights at King Khalid, lapsed at 2100 GMT on Oct. 17, which is midnight Saudi time heading into Oct. 18, after the General Authority of Civil Aviation completed runway and terminal safety inspections. AviNews says airlines are staggering their return to RUH flights rather than resuming full schedules at once, and that a lapsed NOTAM is a legal reopening, not a return to normal operations.

What is clear is that service is far from normal. Qatar Airways flights to Riyadh and Dammam remain cancelled through and including Oct. 24.

Detours by road and by air

With Riyadh's airport closed at the time of the AFP report, domestic airlines have been promoting flights from alternative airports, including Qassim, around three hours from the capital. Some residents have travelled by road to airports in Bahrain and Qatar to enter or leave Saudi Arabia.

A Riyadh resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, described being diverted mid-flight during an attack on the airport. "We decided to land in Jeddah," the resident said. "From Jeddah, thank God, everything worked out, and we were able to catch a flight to Qassim."

Foreign carriers are adjusting too. Qatar Airways is cutting Jeddah service from seven daily flights to four. The airline advised passengers to contact it within 48 hours of departure because schedules remain subject to change.

The Dammam link matters because King Fahd International Airport on the Persian Gulf was also attacked, though Saudi authorities gave few details.

The Houthi position and the oil angle

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has shown no interest in backing off. In a televised speech, he said his group had the military capabilities and resolve to withstand a lengthy conflict. "The Yemeni people today possess all the determination and elements of strength, regardless of how long the war lasts," he said.

The group has also threatened Saudi energy infrastructure. According to a New York Times headline and summary, the Iran-backed militia threatened to attack the Saudi energy giant Aramco, which it has done before, after Saudi authorities issued an evacuation notice to an oil facility in the Yemeni capital.

Saudi Arabia has not commented on Houthi claims that it struck Sanaa's airport.

The Associated Press reported that the kingdom is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defense support to the region, according to regional officials who spoke to AP last month. The Houthis also seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait last month, and the Saudi-led coalition has been trying to seize them back. That waterway is an alternative route to the Iran-threatened Strait of Hormuz.

Aviation trade reporting adds another cost: private and charter operators face Europe-Asia routings narrowing around Saudi Arabia, with average jet fuel reported at 111% above a year earlier.

What comes next

The U.S. Mission in Saudi Arabia has warned Americans to exercise heightened vigilance and cautioned that the conflict "has the potential to escalate." President Donald Trump has said he is weighing joining the fight against the Houthis. There was no sign that he had followed up on plans to speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been seeking assistance against the group.

A U.S. intervention carries its own risk. It could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, further restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.

Osprey Flight Solutions warned on Oct. 15 that airlines serving Saudi Arabia face months of disruption from missile and drone attacks, putting continued fighting without a ceasefire over three to nine months at up to 60%.

The next fixed date is Oct. 24, the end of Qatar Airways' announced Riyadh and Dammam cancellations. Whether flights actually resume depends on whether the missiles stop. Nothing so far suggests they will.