RIYADH — Missile attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthi movement disrupted Saudi Arabia’s main international airport on Thursday, prompting flight cancellations and temporary suspensions by major airlines.

Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles launched toward Riyadh and another fired toward Khamis Mushait in the southwest. Saudi civil defence authorities said debris from an interception damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex in Riyadh, without reporting casualties there.

Aircraft fire seen as flights are cancelled

Reuters verified video showing thick smoke and flames rising from King Khalid International Airport. A witness and three people briefed on the incident said a commercial aircraft caught fire, but Saudi authorities had not confirmed that the fire was caused by a Houthi strike.

The Houthis claimed they struck the airport and caused damage but did not provide evidence. The Associated Press reported that passengers were instructed to leave checked luggage and evacuate after outgoing flights were halted.

Nearly half of scheduled departures from Riyadh had been cancelled by 3 p.m. local time, according to aviation analytics company Cirium. Lufthansa and Air India suspended flights to the Saudi capital, while the airport advised travellers to confirm flight status with their airlines.

Escalation follows deaths earlier this week

Saudi authorities said Houthi attacks on Riyadh and Abha airports killed three people earlier this week. The Houthis also warned airlines against using Saudi airspace and told people to stay away from oil facilities they described as targets.

The group says the strikes answer Saudi support for Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which has begun an offensive to retake territory seized by the Houthis along the Red Sea and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Saudi Arabia says it is supporting that government’s campaign.

The airport disruption and threats to energy infrastructure add a separate aviation and oil-market risk to the maritime attacks already affecting the region. No Canadian airline suspension or Canadian government measure was identified in the reports reviewed for this article.

Sources: Reuters, October 8; The Associated Press, October 8.

Lead image: file photograph of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh by Kharbaan Ghaltaan via Wikimedia Commons, 2025, CC BY-SA 4.0; not a photograph of Thursday’s explosions or aircraft fire.