UAE Carriers Cancel Saudi Flights as Riyadh Airport Closure Is Extended to October 17
Why It MattersA closure of the Gulf's largest origin-and-destination market forces carriers to cancel rolling blocks of flights, and a fluid schedule leaves cargo, crew and aircraft positioning dependent on the next notice.
What happened
Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai and Air Arabia have cancelled a large number of services to Saudi Arabia after the closure of Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport was extended. A Notice to Airmen issued on Monday showed the airport will remain closed until 2100 GMT on October 17. The Saudi civil aviation authority said the closure would allow procedures to be completed to ensure the safety and operational readiness of airport facilities.
The airport has been closed since an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people and injured more than 300. Another attack on Sunday killed one person and injured nearly a dozen others. Yemen's Houthi group claimed a ballistic missile "direct hit" on the airport and warned airlines and passengers against flying to Saudi airports other than those serving Makkah and Madinah. Saudi authorities have not confirmed the claim; they previously said they had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired towards Riyadh.
Etihad has cancelled all Abu Dhabi-Riyadh flights until October 19, along with selected Abu Dhabi-Dammam and Abu Dhabi-Jeddah services. On Dammam, flights EY575, EY576, EY573 and EY574 were cancelled on October 12, and all Abu Dhabi-Dammam flights on October 13 and 14 are also cancelled. On Jeddah, EY601, EY602, EY603 and EY604 were cancelled between October 12 and 14, with EY603 and EY604 also cancelled on October 15. Etihad has warned that the situation remains fluid and further schedule changes are possible. Emirates cancelled Dammam flights EK821, EK823 and EK827 on October 13 and 14.
Delays were reported at Dubai International Airport and Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, involving Emirates, flydubai and Air India. Not all disruptions are necessarily linked to the conflict. Other measures include a suspension by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority of all flights by Iranian airlines following US sanctions, flydubai's suspension of Israel services after a September 30 incident involving flight FZ1073, and Air Arabia cancellations on Kuwait and Bahrain routes. EASA has extended its conflict-zone bulletin until November 16, 2026.
Industry impact & what to watch
When a capital-city airport shuts and the surrounding threat warning stays open, airlines tend to cancel in rolling blocks rather than all at once. The Etihad schedule shows that pattern: Dammam and Jeddah flights were pulled for a few days at a time, then extended, while Riyadh was cancelled through October 19. Each extension carries its own rebooking, crew and aircraft-positioning cost, and the carrier itself has said further changes are possible.
The Houthi warning also covers Saudi airports beyond Riyadh, apart from Makkah and Madinah. Saudi authorities have not confirmed the missile claim, so carriers are weighing an unverified threat against an official closure that is already confirmed. That is why cancellations reach Dammam and Jeddah even though the closed airport is Riyadh. Airspace bulletins such as EASA's, now running to November 16, 2026, give operators a formal basis for avoiding the area, and that basis outlasts the NOTAM.
The next fixed point is 2100 GMT on October 17, when the current NOTAM expires. A further extension, or Saudi confirmation of the claimed missile strike, would be the development most likely to move schedules past October 19.
