Flydubai Cancels Riyadh and Abha Flights Through November 16, and Emirates’ November 8 Riyadh Restart Has Not Happened

flydubai has canceled all of its flights to Riyadh and Abha up to and including November 16, 2026, according to a spokesperson quoted by Khaleej Times on November 6. The Dubai low-cost carrier’s website showed Dammam flights available again from November 10.

Emirates, meanwhile, has not restarted Riyadh or Dammam on November 8, the date some travel roundups gave for its return. When AeroCorner checked the airline’s flight-status system on November 8, every Dubai-Riyadh and Dubai-Dammam flight we looked up for November 8 to 10 was listed as canceled.

What flydubai changed

On the morning of November 6, The National still listed flydubai’s Riyadh, Dammam and Abha flights as canceled until November 9. Khaleej Times then quoted the airline’s spokesperson putting Riyadh and Abha back a further week, to November 16.

“Due to the ongoing situation, we expect some disruption to our scheduled operations to Saudi Arabia,” the spokesperson said. The airline advised customers to check their flight status regularly and said it would announce further schedule changes through its official channels.

Dammam is treated differently. The November 10 date comes from flydubai’s booking website, as reported by Khaleej Times, not from the spokesperson, and the same site listed Riyadh and Abha from November 17. Jeddah flights were showing as available from November 6.

The extension continues a pattern of short blocks. On October 23, Gulf News reported the same three cities canceled until October 29, and Khaleej Times later put the end date at November 5.

What Emirates’ own system shows on November 8

The National’s November 6 roundup said Emirates’ Dubai-Riyadh and Dubai-Dammam flights were scheduled to resume on November 8, and a RusTourismNews piece repeated that date on November 7.

Emirates’ flight-status service does not match. Riyadh flights EK815, EK817 and EK819 and Dammam flights EK821, EK823 and EK827 are all canceled on November 8, 9 and 10, as are the EK816 and EK822 return flights we checked for November 8.

EK815 to Riyadh and EK821 to Dammam are also canceled on November 11 and 13. Those records were last updated on October 30, the same picture our November 6 check found.

For November 17 and 21 the system returned no Riyadh or Dammam flight at all. On November 28, both EK815 and EK821 still appear as scheduled.

Jeddah is a different picture. EK803 and EK805 from Dubai were both listed as scheduled on November 8, while the overnight EK801 remained canceled.

Etihad: Jeddah back, Riyadh and Dammam still off

Etihad Airways resumed its daily Abu Dhabi-Jeddah flights EY601 to EY604 on November 6, according to Khaleej Times. Its Riyadh and Dammam flights stay canceled through Thursday, November 19, and the airline said further changes are possible.

Airline	Riyadh	Dammam	Jeddah
Emirates	Canceled on every date checked, November 8 to 13; none listed November 17 or 21	Canceled on every date checked, November 8 to 13; none listed November 17 or 21	EK803 and EK805 scheduled, EK801 canceled
flydubai	Canceled through November 16	Bookable from November 10	Bookable from November 6
Etihad Airways	Canceled through November 19	Canceled through November 19	EY601 to EY604 back from November 6

Why “bookable” is not the same as “flying”

Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport partially reopened on October 25 after attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, The National reports, and it still operates under restrictions. Since late October, flydubai alone has moved its end date from October 29 to November 5, then November 9, then November 16.

That habit explains the gap between the roundups and the flight data. A “resume” date in a published list is usually just the day after the latest cancellation block ends, and a seat on sale after that date only means the flight has not been canceled yet.

flydubai’s Dammam date is a booking-site listing of exactly that kind, so it is worth rechecking before travel. The same goes for Emirates’ late-November Riyadh flights, which still show as scheduled.

For travelers, the airline’s own flight-status page is the most current check, and it is worth repeating the day before departure. Rebooking and refund options depend on the airline, so its own notice is the place to read them.