More Than a Quarter of Saudi Flights Disrupted by Houthi Strikes

Photo Credit: Saudi Arabian Airlines at Riyadh Airport Wikimedia Commons / Stefan Krasowski More than a quarter of all flights leaving Saudi Arabia were disrupted Thursday as Iran-aligned Houthi rebels stepped up attacks on the kingdom’s airports. According to aviation analytics company Cirium, of 1,194 departures, 312 were either canceled or did not fly. The Houthis had targeted Abha International Airport in the south of the kingdom and Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Tuesday and Wednesday, which killed three people and injured 36, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sareea said in a social media post on X on Thursday that a ballistic missile struck Riyadh’s King Khalid Airport, “causing damage and disrupting air traffic at the airport.” Nearly half of all departures from Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport were canceled or had not flown as of 6 p.m. local time on Thursday, Cirium sai