Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Three people were killed and 36 injured after Houthi attacks struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia on October 6 and 7, 2026, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). The attacks caused material damage at both airports as the wider conflict in Yemen escalated.
GACA said one person was killed and eight injured at King Khalid International Airport, while two people were killed and 28 injured at Abha Airport. At Abha, the two fatalities were Moroccan and Algerian residents. At Riyadh, the person killed was a Sudanese resident. The injured included Saudi citizens and residents from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Egypt and Pakistan, with injuries ranging from minor to serious. Authorities said the injured were taken to hospitals.
The attacks were claimed by Yemen’s Houthi movement. Houthi military spokesperson Brig Gen Yahya Saree said the group had targeted King Khalid International Airport with several drones and claimed the attack had disrupted air traffic. He also claimed attacks on Abha Airport and Khamis Mushait using ballistic missiles and drones. The Houthi claims of damage and military casualties could not be independently verified.
Saudi authorities separately said the Saudi-led coalition intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh. Coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki Al-Malki said the launch platform was being tracked over Houthi-controlled Sanaa and warned that attacks on Saudi civilian infrastructure “will not go unpunished.” The coalition later said it had struck more than 80 Houthi military sites in Yemen.
The escalation also directly affected Aden International Airport in Yemen, where the Houthis attacked the airport with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones on October 7, according to Yemen’s Transport Ministry. One missile landed near the runway minutes before a flight from Cairo was due to land, prompting authorities to divert the incoming flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The ministry said the attack targeted the airport’s runway and passenger terminal. It reported that the terminal was evacuated and two aircraft were moved from the tarmac. No casualties were reported at Aden Airport. The ministry warned that the incident could have resulted in a major civilian aviation disaster.
The Houthi military said its target near Aden was Saudi military supplies at Badr camp, rather than the civilian airport itself, and warned against using Aden airport for military purposes. The group’s claim could not be independently verified.
The Aden incident is particularly significant for civil aviation because the airport is the main international gateway for areas of Yemen outside Houthi control. The attack forced the disruption and diversion of a scheduled international passenger flight while aircraft and passengers were already at or approaching the airport.
The attacks followed strikes reported earlier in the week at King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Jizan and Najran International Airport. Saudi authorities said those attacks caused material damage and injuries.
Flight-tracking data indicated that operations at King Khalid International Airport were halted for more than an hour on Wednesday, following a temporary hold on flights the previous day. The repeated attacks and air-defence activity have therefore begun to affect commercial aviation operations in the region.
The latest attacks come as fighting intensifies between Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and the Houthis around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Yemen’s Red Sea coast. The strategic waterway has become increasingly important for energy and commercial shipping amid disruption elsewhere in the region. More than 200,000 people have reportedly been displaced since the latest escalation began, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The airport strikes mark a significant escalation for regional civil aviation, with Saudi international airports directly attacked, flight operations disrupted and an incoming international passenger flight diverted after a missile landed close to Aden’s runway. Further aviation disruption remains possible as fighting continues.
