Riyadh airport resumes flights on Sunday for the first time since October 10 — and the Houthis renewed their warning the same morning that King Khalid International Airport remains a "military target." The airport designated Terminal 1 for domestic flights and Terminal 2 for international flights operated by national carriers starting Sunday, October 25, Reuters reported. AFP reported that the FlightRadar monitoring site showed a plane taking off from Riyadh early on Sunday, heading to Jeddah. The reopening ends a suspension that began after a Houthi-claimed attack killed 13 people and wounded more than 300 — and it begins under an explicit threat that operations against the airport will continue.
What reopened at King Khalid airport on Sunday?
A limited, two-terminal operation, on the airport's own Saturday announcement. "Please be advised that Terminal (1) will be designated for domestic flights and Terminal (2) for international flights operated by national carriers at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, effective Sunday, 25 October 2026," the airport posted on X on Saturday, in the wording carried by both Reuters and AFP. The designation covers international flights operated by national carriers; the reporting opened did not describe a full return for all foreign airlines, and passengers were advised in the airport's advisory, as carried in related reporting, to check their flight status with their airlines before travelling. AFP's FlightRadar detail — an early-Sunday departure for Jeddah, a domestic route — is the first movement reported under the new arrangement.
Why was the airport closed for two weeks?
Operations were halted on October 10 following an attack on the airport claimed by the Houthis that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300 others, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade, Reuters reported. The suspension of operations was extended two days later. Reuters noted the Houthis have been firing ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi airports, ports and oil installations, turning Saudi Arabia into a pressure point in the wider war, and that Saudi Arabia has recently stepped up its military involvement in Yemen — launching strikes against the Houthis and backing a government counteroffensive after the Houthis seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month. AFP framed the same resumption against a wave of Houthi attacks in recent weeks after a years-long truce broke down in the summer, shifting the focus of the wider US-Iran war and deepening Yemen's humanitarian disaster. Saturday's cross-border exchange — Houthi claims of attacks on Saudi oil sites and airports, coalition interceptions, and strikes reported in Sanaa and Aden — was reported in full on this site on October 24.
What did the Houthis say, and what happened on Sunday morning?
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the airport remained a "military target" and operations targeting the airport will continue, warning all airlines, airport staffers and travellers against using it, Reuters reported. In AFP's version, Saree said: "The Yemeni Armed Forces warn all international, regional, and local airlines - as well as staff and travellers - against using King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, as it is unsafe and serves as a military target for our forces," adding: "The Saudi regime shall bear the consequences of any operations at the airport." Separately, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis said early on Sunday that it had shot down two drones in the Riyadh area, AFP reported. The AFP report did not state that those drones were aimed at the airport, and no new airport strike was reported in the sources opened for this article. The documented position on Sunday is therefore narrow and stark: flights are moving again from two terminals, the group that closed the airport two weeks ago says it will keep targeting it, and air defences were active over the capital area on the morning the flights resumed.
This report is drawn from Reuters' October 24-25, 2026 report, opened and read in full on reuters.com, and AFP's October 25, 2026 report via TBS News (BSS/AFP), opened and read in full. The October 10 death and injury figures are Reuters' reporting of the Houthi-claimed attack, attributed as such. The coalition's two-drone statement is AFP's reporting, published as the coalition's claim, with no target for the drones stated in the reporting opened. No markets snapshot box is included: oil markets are closed over the weekend and no fresh conflict-tied settlement was available at publish time.
