Riyadh airport extends closure following weekend attacks

Saudi authorities extended the suspension of operations at the Riyadh International Airport on Monday following a series of deadly attacks carried out by the Houthis.

The attacks on the airport in recent days have left at least 18 dead, 13 of them on Saturday, in the deadliest attack against the kingdom in more than a decade, and hundreds injured.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation announced in a statement the extension of the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport. According to the statement, the extension was necessary to "complete the necessary procedures to verify the security of the facilities and their operational readiness."

The authority did not specify when operations would resume.

A high-level source in the aviation sector, responsible for overseeing flights to the Persian Gulf for an airline, stated that operations would be suspended for the remainder of the workweek in Saudi Arabia, according to messages sent to the company on Monday by Saudi aviation authorities.

"We were told it would be at least until Thursday. There are no flights until the end of the week," the source told AFP.

The source added that Terminals 3 and 4 were damaged, as were the airport's radar and communications equipment, and that the runways have not yet been assessed.

The United Arab Emirates' national airline, Etihad Airways, announced on Monday the cancellation of all flights to and from Riyadh through next week due to "regional disruptions."

In addition, it has suspended flights this week to the Saudi cities of Dammam and Jeddah.

Bahrain's national airline, Gulf Air, also announced the cancellation of all its flights to Riyadh through Saturday.

A senior official with the Riyadh Metro told AFP that authorities had suspended transit services to three stations serving the airport.