Yemen Government Says Houthis Fired Two Missiles Near Yemenia Flight Preparing to Depart Aden for Cairo

Yemen's internationally recognised government on Friday accused the Houthi militia of targeting Aden International Airport with two missiles that landed near a Yemenia Airlines aircraft preparing for takeoff to Cairo. Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani made the accusation in a post on X.

Al-Eryani said Yemenia Airlines flight IY 612, bound for Cairo International Airport, was preparing to take off when the airport was targeted. The missiles landed approximately 500 metres from the aircraft and about 100 metres from the centre of the runway. He said the passengers and crew were safe.

Al-Eryani said the incident could have caused a major humanitarian disaster and accused the Houthis of threatening civilian aviation and violating international laws and norms. He described Aden International Airport as a vital gateway for Yemenis travelling for medical treatment, education and work, noting that it operates dozens of flights daily. He added that the government, backed by the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy, would continue to protect the country's people and facilities.

In Saudi Arabia, the Civil Defence lifted an early warning alert for Jazan Province on Friday, saying the danger had passed, after earlier alerts for Khamis Mushait and Yanbu. The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a security advisory dated October 15 warning of potential attacks on airports, airspace closures and flight cancellations following recent missile and UAV attacks in the kingdom. It said US government employees need special authorization to use any Saudi airport.

Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said the coalition intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward Yanbu, two cruise missiles over the Red Sea and three drones in the southern and Riyadh regions. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed Saudi warplanes carried out 101 airstrikes and missile strikes on civilian assets across Yemen in the preceding 24 hours. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said Saudi Arabia had not yet responded to Tehran's offer to mediate in the Yemen conflict.

An airport strike claim involving a passenger aircraft on the apron or taxiway sits at the sharpest end of conflict-zone aviation risk. Flights into and out of contested airspace depend less on the aircraft than on whether the airport and the surrounding corridors can be kept secure, and a single impact near a runway can change how crews, insurers and airport authorities treat that field.

The parallel Saudi alerts and the US Embassy advisory show how quickly the risk picture can widen beyond one airport. Advisories that mention airport attacks, airspace closures and cancellations feed directly into corporate travel-security policies and trip-planning assumptions for anyone routing through the region.

The next signal is whether the Yemeni government or Yemenia publishes any operational response for Aden, such as schedule changes or runway inspections, and whether further advisories or alerts follow for Saudi airports.