Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operations to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, have been completely suspended, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said. The announcement came as Saudi Arabia dealt with an attack on Riyadh’s international airport that killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced the toll for the Saturday attack, which it described as the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. The attack was described as a Houthi attack, although the Houthis have not claimed responsibility.
Flight disruptions and passenger support at Pakistani airports
The PAA said a Fly Jinnah flight on the Lahore–Karachi–Riyadh route (LHR–KHI–RUH) was cancelled. Flynas also cancelled its Karachi–Madinah and Karachi–Riyadh flights, citing technical reasons.
Flights to Madinah and Jeddah operated by other airlines from Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad are continuing as scheduled. To assist affected passengers, the authority said special facilitation counters had been set up at all major airports across the country.
Casualties and the wider strain on Saudi air defences
The Saudi civil aviation authority said the dead included four Saudis, two people from Bangladesh, and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. Officials said that at the latest count, 309 people were wounded.
Hospitals were flooded with the wounded, who arrived by ambulance and helicopter, with some in critical condition. The attack occurred without warning.
This was the third attack on the airport this week. The two earlier attacks killed four people and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial plane parked on the tarmac. The strikes have exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi defence capabilities, as the kingdom runs an air campaign against the Houthis in support of a ground war by the Yemeni government against the Iran-backed group.
Trump, Rubio and Guterres respond to the attack
US President Donald Trump said Washington was considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis. Asked whether the United States planned to do so, he told reporters, “We may. We’re going to look at it.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks, saying they “demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned Saturday’s strike, saying attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law and must cease immediately. A Saudi-led military coalition has vowed to respond.
Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government have claimed hundreds of strikes on targets in Houthi-held territory. The Houthis say these killed civilians, including women and children, but the claims could not be independently verified.
Saudi Arabia entered the Yemen war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition seeking to force the Houthis out of the capital, Sanaa. A 2022 ceasefire between Riyadh and the Houthis unravelled this summer, culminating in a Houthi advance that took the Red Sea chokepoint of Bab el-Mandeb from Saudi-backed government forces.
