The King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will remain inactive until next Saturday, October 17, a decision made amid a surge in attacks by the Houthi militias from Yemen, which have caused at least thirteen fatalities over the weekend.
According to the latest NOTAM notice sent to general aviation pilots, operations will remain suspended until 21:00 hours (23:00 in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands) that day, after the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) communicated a new extension of the flight suspension.
The agency has explained that the purpose of the closure is "to complete the necessary procedures to verify the safety of the facilities and their operational availability, in coordination with the competent authorities."
The measure is adopted after several consecutive days of bombings by the Houthi insurgency against the airport of the Saudi capital, including one recorded on Saturday that left twelve dead, among them an American citizen, and more than 300 injured.
This Monday, the Houthis have again claimed another attack against the Riyadh aerodrome, although Saudi authorities have not confirmed any incident during the day. "Our armed forces have successfully attacked this afternoon the King Khalid International Airport, located in Riyadh, the capital of the Saudi enemy, using a ballistic missile and achieving a precise hit," explained the military spokesperson for the Houthis, Yahya Sari.
Sari also reported on an "operation" with a drone against the Yamis Mushait airbase, "achieving a direct hit by the grace of Allah."
In their message, the rebels reiterated their call to avoid Saudi airports. "We reiterate our warning to all international airlines, as well as to experts, personnel, workers, and travelers from around the world, not to operate flights to Saudi airports, which are not safe, except for the airports and airspaces serving the holy sites of Mecca and Medina," they added.
In parallel, the forces loyal to the internationally recognized Yemeni authorities announced a week ago a large-scale offensive to try to recover the areas recently taken by the Houthis and even advance towards the capital, Sana'a, controlled by the rebels since 2014, with the support of the international coalition led by Riyadh.
The Houthis launched an offensive on September 3 in areas of the provinces of Taiz and Hodeida and achieved important territorial conquests, including the city of Mocha and the surroundings of the strategic Bab el Mandeb strait, which represented a serious setback for the internationally recognized government, which last Monday claimed to have regained control of these last areas.