Etihad extends Riyadh cancellations as airport issues travel alert
ABU DHABI, October 10, 2026 — Etihad Airways has extended its suspension of flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh through October 12, as disruption across Saudi airspace stretched into a fifth day and King Khalid International Airport urged travellers to confirm their flights before leaving home.
The Abu Dhabi carrier said the cancellations affect services between Zayed International Airport and King Khalid International Airport. Four flights are cancelled on Saturday — EY555 and EY559 from Abu Dhabi to Riyadh, with their return legs EY556 and EY560 — with further cancellations listed for Sunday and Monday, airline schedules published on its website showed.
Emirates, flydubai and Air Arabia also affected
Emirates cancelled three Dubai–Riyadh services on Friday — EK815, EK817 and EK819 — and the route is expected to resume normally from Sunday, according to the airline’s published schedules. Flydubai has cancelled its flights to Riyadh and Yanbu up to and including October 10, and its Abha services up to and including October 11, a company spokesperson said. The airline said it was monitoring the situation closely and coordinating with the authorities concerned.
Air Arabia listed cancellations on its UAE–Saudi Arabia routes, including services to Abha and Tabuk, while several incoming flights at Dubai International and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport were delayed on Saturday.
Airport warns passengers to check before travelling
Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport issued a travel alert on Saturday morning advising passengers to contact their airline directly to confirm whether their flight was operating before heading to the airport. The airport described the situation as recovering after three days of heavy disruption: roughly 300 flights — about half of Thursday’s departures — were cancelled following the attacks, flight-tracking data from Cirium showed.
Flights at the airport were broadly back toward normal on Saturday, with most remaining disruptions concentrated on regional Gulf carriers, airport sources said.
The cause of the chaos
The disruption follows drone and missile strikes on King Khalid International Airport and Abha International Airport earlier this week, which the kingdom’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said killed three Saudi citizens and injured 36 people of various nationalities. Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks, which also damaged a Saudia aircraft and killed the airline’s Captain Hamoud Ali Al-Kalthami.
Advisories remain in force: the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s conflict-zone bulletin covering Saudi airspace, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman runs until November 16, while the US and UK maintain travel advisories for Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
What passengers should do
All three UAE carriers advised affected passengers to check their flight status online and use their manage-booking portals to rebook or claim refunds. Passengers who booked through travel agents were told to contact their agents directly. Airline officials said further schedule changes were possible and that customers would be updated through official channels.
