A passenger aircraft was damaged at Riyadh’s international airport after coming under attack attributed to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, marking a sharp escalation in the group’s campaign against Saudi Arabia and heightening regional tensions.
On Thursday, the Houthis intensified missile attacks aimed at disrupting Saudi air travel and threatening critical oil infrastructure. The strikes have reportedly killed three people in Saudi Arabia this week, while also leaving a commercial aircraft seriously damaged.
The rebels claimed responsibility for targeting Riyadh airport and issued a warning urging workers to avoid the kingdom’s energy facilities, saying those sites could also come under attack.
The Saudi state airline Saudia said its aircraft was parked beside an airport terminal when it caught fire. The plane sustained extensive damage, apparently after being struck by shrapnel from an intercepted missile or another projectile.
The aircraft was not believed to be carrying passengers at the time of the incident. However, officials had not ruled out the possibility that people were injured.
Images broadcast from the scene showed flames and a large plume of dark smoke rising above Riyadh’s airport.
Saudi Arabia’s government media office, civil aviation regulator and Saudia Airlines did not immediately respond to emailed requests for information.
Lufthansa and Air India announced that they were suspending services to Riyadh following the latest Houthi attacks.
A huge plume of black smoke and flames could be seen rising from Riyadh airport
Saudi authorities separately reported that debris from a missile intercepted over the capital struck a kindergarten and a medical complex.
The Houthis have said their attacks are intended to punish Saudi Arabia for supporting government forces in Yemen’s renewed civil war.
Riyadh maintains that it is backing Yemen’s UN-recognised government as it seeks to reclaim territory controlled by the Houthis.
The fighting, described as an extension of the wider US-Iran conflict, has created another source of instability in an already volatile region. It also raises fears that more countries could be pulled into difficult mountain warfare, with Syria reportedly weighing whether to send troops to support Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has appealed to regional partners such as Turkey and Pakistan for assistance, including logistical and defensive support, as it attempts to roll back Houthi advances in southwestern Yemen near the southern gateway to the Red Sea.
The kingdom’s appeals have become more pressing since Saudi officials said on Wednesday that strikes on Riyadh airport and Abha airport in the southwest had killed three people during the week.
Saudi airports have become a central target in the Houthi offensive. The Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen said its forces had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh, along with another missile aimed at Khamis Mushayt, the location of a major airbase.
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Figures from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed that nearly half of all departures from Riyadh airport had been cancelled by 3pm GMT. A further 31 cancellations were expected across Saudi airports on Friday.
Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 also recorded widespread delays affecting arrivals and departures at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday.
Airport officials advised passengers to contact their airlines and confirm flight details before setting out.
Riyadh is scheduled to host the WPC Energy Congress this week, bringing together senior energy policymakers for a major international gathering.
Several multinational firms based in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) told staff to work from home after loud booms were heard on Thursday morning, five people familiar with the matter said, including some affected staff.
Some diplomats said they had received warnings, and some schools in Riyadh told parents there were orders to shelter in place, though authorities did not issue a public alert.
Yemen’s long-running civil war, which paused with a ceasefire in 2022, has erupted again in recent weeks with the Houthis seizing stretches of the Red Sea coast last month, including along the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Their threats to shipping and attacks on Saudi cities and infrastructure have drawn the kingdom back in.
This week, Saudi-backed forces launched a counterattack, taking back some areas around the strait.
Houthi fighters participating in an offensive against Saudi-backed Yemeni forces in Taiz province on October 8
However, in a war with several front lines, the Houthis have made gains of their own, surrounding Yemen’s third-largest city, Taiz, by taking territory along its main mountain road to Aden.
The fighting, which pits the Houthis against a coalition of Saudi-backed forces under the internationally recognised government, has led to a humanitarian crisis in the poorest Arab state, displacing 200,000 people since the conflict resumed.
One US and one Syrian defence official said Syria was carefully considering options for military support, including defensive aid to protect Saudi Arabia from attacks, or an offensive deployment to help take the fight to the Houthis.
In response to a request for comment to the Syrian foreign ministry, a diplomat said Syria stood firmly with Saudi Arabia but that its focus was on domestic priorities such as recovery from its own civil war.
NATO-member Turkey said on Wednesday it was sending mainly defensive and technical support to the kingdom to help in the fight against the Houthis. A Turkish official said this was expected to take the form of military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems.