Three Saudis Killed at Riyadh Airport as Britain Warns Travellers
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority says three Saudi nationals were killed in two Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport on Thursday, the second striking a parked Saudia aircraft. The airline says one of its employees was among the dead. The Foreign Office updated its travel advice last night to warn against all but essential travel to Riyadh province.
This is the first time the Houthi campaign against Saudi airports has killed people at Riyadh itself, and it changes what the war means for anyone with a reason to fly there. The Foreign Office now advises against all travel within ten kilometres of the Yemeni border and against all but essential travel to Riyadh, Aseer, Najran and Jizan provinces and to Taif. Its notice is explicit about the consequence: “Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against advice.” It records a heightened threat to airports, military bases, ports and energy infrastructure across the kingdom, including Jeddah and Yanbu, as well as to Red Sea shipping. The Houthis say they used two cruise missiles and also claimed strikes at Najran and the Khamis Mushait airbase, which the Saudis have not confirmed; the coalition says it destroyed three rocket-launch platforms and that attacks on civilians “will be met with resolve”. Airlines have drawn their own conclusions: Air India has cancelled Riyadh flights to at least the weekend and Lufthansa has suspended them through 16 October. Multinationals in the King Abdullah Financial District told staff to work from home, and some schools were told to shelter in place with no public alert. Turkey is sending defensive and technical support and Pakistan has deployed troops; the mutual defence pact the two signed with Riyadh this summer has still not been ratified in Ankara.