Key Points
- Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia cancelled UAE-Saudi services on Saturday, October 17.
- Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport remains suspended after recent missile and drone attacks.
- Nearly half of Saudi scheduled departures were cancelled on October 15, Cirium data shows.
The latest:
Flights between the UAE and Saudi Arabia faced a second unsettled day on Saturday, October 17, with Riyadh the sharpest disruption point as King Khalid International Airport stayed suspended through the day. Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai and Air Arabia all pulled or rescheduled services to Saudi cities, while Jeddah and Dammam airports kept operating with delays. The UAE’s civil aviation regulator warned separately of weather-related delays.
Details:
- Emirates: The Dubai carrier cancelled flights between Dubai and Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh across October 17 and 18, covering its three largest Saudi destinations. The airline did not announce when it expects to restore the routes or whether affected passengers would be rebooked on later services.
- Etihad and flydubai: Etihad Airways suspended specified services between Abu Dhabi and three Saudi cities. flydubai’s schedule showed a mix of arrived, estimated and scheduled services, with flight status information unavailable for several Saudi routes, leaving passengers without confirmation on those sectors.
- Air Arabia: The Sharjah-based low-cost carrier reported cancellations out of Sharjah including flights to Riyadh, Dammam, Abha and Taif, extending the disruption beyond Saudi Arabia’s three main hubs to secondary airports in the kingdom’s south and west.
- The numbers: Aviation analytics firm Cirium recorded 552 scheduled departures cancelled or marked no-fly across Saudi Arabia on October 15, out of 1,178 scheduled, or 46.86%. Its daily breakdown listed a different total of 558 affected flights, equivalent to 47.37%.
- The cause: Saudi Arabia’s airport disruption follows recent missile and drone attacks, according to the travel updates supplied to airlines. Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport remained suspended through October 17, the only one of the kingdom’s three main gateways fully offline.
- Airports operating: Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport was running with some delays and cancellations, while Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport was operating with some services still affected. Travellers were told not to assume every flight to an operating airport was running normally.
- The regulator: The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement on Saturday, October 17, that seasonal weather and reduced horizontal visibility in parts of the country could cause limited flight delays, and that airlines and airport operators were applying established operational procedures and aviation safety standards.
- Travel warnings: The United States and Australia issued travel warnings over the security situation in Saudi Arabia. Neither government’s advisory specified a duration or named the Saudi cities covered.
- Passenger advice: Travellers were advised to check their flight number directly with the operating airline before leaving for the airport, and to confirm airport operating conditions, because schedules and operating conditions may change at short notice.
Between the lines:
The two Cirium totals for October 15 — 552 and 558 affected departures — point to a fast-moving cancellation picture rather than a settled count, with roughly 47% of Saudi departures grounded either way. With Riyadh suspended while Jeddah and Dammam keep flying, the pattern suggests disruption concentrated on the capital rather than a nationwide airspace closure.
What’s next
Whether Emirates extends its Dubai-Saudi cancellations beyond October 18, and whether King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh reopens after the October 17 suspension window. Also watch for updated US and Australian advisories.
