A Houthi Missile and Drones Fall Near the Runways at Aden and Mukalla Airports, and Two Yemenia Flights Are Halted

Houthi forces attacked two civilian airports in government-held Yemen on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Yemen’s Transport Ministry said: Aden International with a ballistic missile, and Riyan International in Mukalla with three drones. The ministry said all of them came down near the two airports’ runways while flights were landing and taking off.

At Aden, two Yemenia departures were stopped and the airport was cleared of passengers and staff. The ministry reported no deaths, injuries or damage at Riyan, based on the information it had.

What happened at Aden

In a statement carried by the government’s Saba news agency, the ministry called it the fourth attack on Aden’s airport. The attack came just after Yemenia flight IY640 had left for Amman and a FlyAden flight to Cairo, listed as QFF102, had taken off.

It also came moments after an aircraft of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders had landed, the ministry said. Two more Yemenia flights were getting ready to leave: IY623 to Addis Ababa and IY609 to Cairo.

Both were stopped and postponed, and the airport was evacuated. The ministry did not say when the two flights finally left or how many people were on board.

Al Arabiya’s correspondent said the missile hit the runway, Arab News reported. The ministry’s own wording is that it fell near the runway, and it gave no damage report for Aden.

The Houthis gave a different target. Their military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the group fired a ballistic missile at the Saudi-led coalition’s “military operation room at the Badr Camp in Aden,” according to Middle East Eye.

Mukalla: drones or missiles, and conflicting damage reports

Accounts of the Riyan attack disagree on the weapons. The Transport Ministry said three drones, while Yemen’s armed forces spokesman, Col. Majed al-Nazili, said three ballistic missiles, Middle East Eye reported.

Two military officials told AFP, without being named, that the Houthis used missiles and drones against a base at the airport housing coalition forces, LBC reported. The Houthis had issued no statement on Riyan, according to Anadolu.

The damage picture is also unsettled. State-run Hadramout TV said three strikes hit the runway and the airport’s electricity administration facilities, according to the same Anadolu report, while the ministry reported no damage.

Hadramout’s governor, Salem al-Khanbashi, who also sits on the Presidential Leadership Council, toured the site and inspected the effects and damage, Saba reported. Initial information showed no casualties, it said.

Why these two airports matter

Both airports sit in territory held by Yemen’s internationally recognized government and its allies. Riyan, west of Mukalla, is one of the country’s main civilian airports, serving millions of people across Hadramout and nearby provinces, Anadolu‘s correspondent said.

Riyan was shut to flights in March 2015 and did not reopen to civil traffic until November 2019, after a renovation funded by the Emirates Red Crescent. Yemenia restarted flights from it to Aden and Socotra in April 2021.

The same correspondent said it was the first attack on Riyan since fighting resumed in July. For Aden, it follows the October 16 strike, when two missiles fell about 1,600 feet (500 m) from Yemenia flight IY612 as it prepared to leave for Cairo.

The pattern reaches beyond Yemen. Houthi attacks this month have also struck Saudi airports, including the attack on Riyadh’s airport that Saudi authorities say killed 12 people.

Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad al-Alimi, speaking the same day, cited the targeting of the two “civilian” airports in a call for the Houthis to be designated a terrorist group worldwide, Saba reported.

The Transport Ministry asked the United Nations and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to take a clear position on the attacks. It said both airports will keep operating for travelers from every province, including those under Houthi control.