Saudia Hardest Hit As Riyadh Flight Cancelations Soar Amid Missile Attacks

Published Oct 12, 2026, 8:51 AM EDT A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for history and regional aviation, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft. He has visited OEM facilities as far and wide as Bristol, Toulouse, and Seattle, and recently enjoyed the milestone of flying his 150th sector as a passenger. Based in Norfolk, UK. King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Saudi Arabia has recently been the target of multiple Houthi missile attacks as war continues to rage in the Middle East. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, Riyadh Airport is Saudi Arabia's second-busiest hub, with 11,222 departures scheduled in October of 2026. It sits behind Jeddah (JED), whose total of 11,832 ranks in first place. Given the scale of Riyadh Airport's regular operations, the disruption that has resulted from these attacks has been significant. Every day over the weekend, hundreds of its arrivals and departures were canceled, with this trend looking set to continue on Monday. At the airline level, Saudi flag carrier and SkyTeam member Saudia has been hit hardest, with around half its flights canceled this weekend. Cancelations Piled Up Over The Weekend Credit: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock The first Houthi missile attack to hit Riyadh Airport came on Thursday, October 8, destroying a Saudia Airbus A320 in the process. This was naturally a cause for concern, although disruption on Friday was comparatively minimal. According to data from FlightAware, 24% of Riyadh's departures (96) were canceled on October 9. However, delays were more widespread, with 52% (204) meeting this fate. Then came the second attack, on Saturday, October 10. This was a much larger-scale assault, with a missile striking Terminal 3 and killing 13 people. More than 300 others were injured. On Saturday, 65% of Riyadh's departures (234) were canceled, and another 16% (63) were delayed, with figures of 82% (293) and 1% (four) on Sunday. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation has since explained that: "The GACA announced an extension of the suspension of operations (...) in Riyadh while it completes procedures to verify the safety and operational readiness of the airport's facilities, in coordination with the relevant authorities." What's The Situation Today? At the time of writing on Monday, 241 (69%) of the flights that were scheduled to depart from Riyadh Airport on October 12 had already been canceled, with a futher three (1%) delayed. Disruption was even more significant in terms of arriving flights, with 247 cancelations (72%) and four cancelations (1%) on this front. Of course, these cancelations are only likely to become more numerous. The severity of the situation in Saudi Arabia has also seen several of the country's other airports sit high in the rankings of the world's most delayed hubs on Monday. At the time of writing, Jeddah's departures had already seen 67 cancelations (18%) and 41 delays (11%), with Dammam (DMM) posting respective figures of 35 (30%) and 10 (8%). The latter of these airports has also been the subject of attacks. On an airline level, the current situation is a grave one when it comes to the prospects of Delta's new Atlanta-Riyadh flights. These services were already proving unpopular bookings-wise, and recent events won't have done them any favors. Elsewhere, The New Arab notes that Air India, Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai, Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways, and SriLankan Airlines have all cut Riyadh flights. Saudia Is Correspondingly The Most Disrupted Airline While, as previously noted, Riyadh is Saudi Arabia's second-busiest airport by departing flights, it actually ranks first for departures when it comes to services operated by Saudia, the country's flag carrier. This October, the airline had planned 4,163 flights from Riyadh, compared to 4,132 from Jeddah. However, it is worth noting that the Jeddah flights offer more seats collectively (around 1.03 million vs 855,000). In any case, the huge presence of Saudia in Riyadh means that, unsurprisingly, it has ranked as the most disrupted airline in the world when it comes to delays and cancelations in recent days. At the time of writing on Monday, some 261 (51%) of its flights for the day had already been canceled, with another 37 (7%) delayed. Fellow Saudi Arabian airlines Flynas and Flyadeal completed the podium.