Houthi Attacks Escalate as Several Countries Urge Citizens to Avoid Saudi Arabia
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Several countries have warned their citizens against travelling to Saudi Arabia following a series of Houthi attacks on airports in the kingdom. The United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand are among those that have issued travel advisories.
According to Al Jazeera on Monday (12 October 2026), Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has asked its citizens to avoid King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and reconsider travel to other airports in Saudi Arabia. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has advised against travel to Riyadh’s main airport and the provinces of Najran, Jazan and Asir.
The US Embassy in Riyadh has also urged American citizens to reconsider travel to Saudi Arabia because of the threat of attacks by Iran and the Houthi group, which is backed by Tehran. Canada has warned against all non-essential travel, while South Korea has advised its citizens to leave Saudi Arabia unless their presence is essential and to cancel planned trips to the country.
The UK has also advised its citizens to avoid travel to Jeddah and Dammam, as well as airports other than Madinah International Airport, except for essential reasons. The warnings come after Saudi Arabia faced five attacks on airports in less than a week.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) reported that one person was killed and 11 others injured after a projectile struck King Khalid International Airport on Sunday. The previous day, a Houthi attack on the same airport reportedly killed 13 people and injured more than 300, making it one of the deadliest attacks in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.
The Houthis have claimed responsibility for four earlier attacks on Saudi airports. However, no group had claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack by the time this report was published.
The attacks have also disrupted flights across the Middle East. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam were reportedly still closed, while operations at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah were disrupted. According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, more than 150 flights were cancelled and 374 delayed in Jeddah on Sunday.
Sobie, an independent aviation analyst and consultant in Singapore, said the long-term impact on the regional aviation industry remained difficult to assess.
“The impact of this latest crisis really depends on how long it lasts, how long Riyadh airport remains closed, and the duration and extent of restrictions after it reopens,” he said.