Flights to and from Saudi Arabia have been severely disrupted after a series of deadly attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport by Houthi rebels based in neighbouring Yemen.
A drone and missile attack on King Khalid International killed 13 people on Saturday (10 October) and the airport was subject to further strikes on Sunday and Monday (11-12 October). The Houthi attacks have also targeted other Saudi airports in Jeddah and Damman in recent days.
Lufthansa Group, which resumed flights from Frankfurt to Riyadh in September, said that it had suspended all services to Saudi Arabia until at least Friday (16 October).
Gulf-based carriers Emirates, Etihad Airways and flydubai are also among the carriers to suspend flights to Saudi Arabia for the next few days, alongside Indian airlines Air India and IndiGo.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and we will update our customers through our official channels regarding any amendments to our flight schedules,” said a flydubai spokesperson.
The attacks by the Houthis on Saudi airports has led Europe’s aviation safety body, EASA, to upgrade its safety advice to airlines flying through the country’s airspace.
“These recurrent missile and drone attacks, together with the activation of air-defence systems, create an increased risk of misidentification of civil aircraft, as well as risks associated with missile and drone overflights, interception activity and falling debris,” said EASA in its advisory.
Several major European airlines, including Air France, KLM and British Airways, had been due to restart flights to Saudi Arabia later this month or in early November.