Qatar Airways suspends Riyadh, Dammam flights as cancellations at Saudi airports reach 46.4%
Key Facts
Qatar Airways announced a temporary suspension of flights to and from Riyadh and Dammam amid air travel disruption following attacks on Saudi airports. The airline attributed its decision to the "current situation," according to an alert on its website bearing an update timestamp of 12 October 2026 at 16:54 Doha time. The decision covers travel in both directions on the airline's routes serving the two Saudi cities, according to the announcement. The carrier did not specify the duration of the temporary suspension in its initial announcement, according to Qatar's The Peninsula newspaper. The decision came amid broader flight disruption across Saudi Arabia, where cancellations at the kingdom's airports reached 46.4%, according to Cirium data cited by Reuters.
Qatar Airways' announcement followed an attack on Riyadh airport on Saturday that killed 13 people and injured more than 300, according to a Reuters report on air traffic disruption in the Saudi capital. The attacks also hit King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, The National newspaper reported, citing Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation. The authority said damage at Dammam airport was being assessed, according to the newspaper. In a related development, the Associated Press reported that Saudi Arabia had launched an investigation into how its air defences failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones. The agency based its report on the investigation on two regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On the diplomatic front, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia condemned the attacks targeting Riyadh airport, Reuters reported. The countries described the attacks as a "dangerous escalation that cannot be justified or accepted under any pretext." On operations, logistics company Expeditors said the attacks on Riyadh airport and other locations across the kingdom had disrupted airline services. In an operational update preceding Qatar Airways' announcement, it added that the attacks had also reduced air cargo capacity. The operational effects identified by the company thus covered freight traffic alongside airline services affected by the attacks on Saudi sites.
Expeditors had also listed Lufthansa's suspension of flights to Riyadh until 16 October in its update on the disruption's impact on air transport services. That date applies to the German carrier's flights to the Saudi capital, according to the logistics company's operational update. Qatar Airways' decision, meanwhile, covered both Riyadh and Dammam, while damage at King Fahd International Airport was being assessed, according to the Saudi authority. In markets, Reuters reported in its coverage of Monday's session that oil prices jumped about two dollars a barrel following the attacks on a Saudi airport. The price move coincided with aviation disruption that included cancellations of existing flights and service suspensions by international carriers.
For travellers affected by its decision, Qatar Airways asked passengers to check their flight status on its website or app. The carrier said in the same alert that it would contact passengers whose flights were affected by the suspension directly. In a separate measure concerning its customers, Delta announced an exception policy allowing eligible travellers to obtain ticket refunds in light of the security situation in Riyadh. Refund eligibility covers wholly unused tickets, according to the airline's bulletin to travel agencies. It also extends to partially used tickets for travellers covered by the exception policy, according to the bulletin.
The aviation notice cited by Reuters stated that King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh would remain closed until 21:00 GMT on 17 October. On new routes, Delta had set 23 October 2026 as the launch date for its direct flights between Atlanta and Riyadh, according to its original service announcement. The carrier then announced that it was postponing the route's launch until March 2027, moving the start of service from October to the following year. Changes to airline schedules thus extend from suspending flights already in operation to delaying a new international service planned for the Saudi capital. Qatar Airways' initial alert on the temporary suspension, meanwhile, gave no date for resuming flights to Riyadh and Dammam.