A Saudia Airliner Burned at a Riyadh Terminal During a Houthi Missile Attack, and Airlines Are Pulling Out

A Saudia airliner was heavily damaged by fire while parked at a terminal at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Thursday, October 8, 2026, during a missile attack claimed by Yemen’s Houthi movement. Three people briefed on the incident told Reuters the damage may have come from shrapnel from an intercepted projectile or from a direct hit by another one.

The jet was believed to be empty of passengers, the same sources said, although they could not rule out injuries. Saudia, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and the Saudi government media office had not answered Reuters’ requests for comment on the damage.

What is known about the aircraft

Images published by Paddle Your Own Kanoo show a fuselage it described as completely burnt out, with the Saudia livery still visible on the tail. The outlet said the jet was parked at a terminal gate when it burned.

Most reports identify it as an Airbus A320, and Simple Flying said early video appears to confirm the type. Daily Pakistan called it an A310-200, and no registration has been published, so the exact airframe is still unknown.

Aviation24.be said the damage in the photos makes the jet a likely hull loss. No official write-off has been announced.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said a ballistic missile was fired at the airport on Thursday afternoon and hit its target, Al Jazeera reported. The Saudi-led coalition’s spokesman, Turki al-Maliki, said two ballistic missiles heading for Riyadh and a third aimed at Khamis Mushait were intercepted and destroyed.

Saudi Arabia’s civil defense agency said falling debris from an intercepted missile damaged a kindergarten and a medical clinic complex in the capital. It did not say whether anyone was hurt.

Hundreds of flights canceled, and foreign airlines suspend Riyadh

Departures from Riyadh were halted for hours on Thursday while the airfield was secured. The tallies differ by tracker and by the hour they were taken: Cirium counted 293 canceled or nonoperating flights at Riyadh, about 39% of the day’s schedule, according to Simple Flying, while FlightAware data cited by the Associated Press showed more than 275 cancellations.

Saudia took the largest share. By 4 p.m. Eastern time, FlightAware showed 162 Saudia flights canceled and 108 delayed, with flynas, flyadeal and Riyadh Air also cutting flights, Simple Flying reported.

Foreign carriers moved quickly. Lufthansa Group suspended Riyadh flights through October 16, citing “current developments in the Middle East,” while Air India and Akasa Air canceled flights through October 10 and IndiGo through October 9, according to AP reporting carried by The Times of Israel.

The US Mission in Saudi Arabia said in a security alert on October 8 that it was aware of attacks on the airport. It now requires US government employees to get special authorization to use King Khalid International, and it told US citizens to check flight status directly with their airline and the airport.

Why a burned jet raises the stakes for Riyadh

Thursday’s fire came a day after GACA said attacks on Abha and Riyadh airports had killed three people and injured 36. According to the authority’s statement, carried by Saudi Gazette, a Sudanese resident was killed and eight people were injured in the October 7 attack at Riyadh.

A burned airliner is a different kind of signal for airline security teams, because it shows that a jet parked at a gate at King Khalid International can be hit.

Whether the jet was hit directly or by debris matters less to that calculation than it might seem. The civil defense statement shows that even a successful interception over Riyadh can still drop debris on the city below.

Riyadh also carries much of Saudi aviation’s growth plans. Saudia, flynas and flyadeal all run large Riyadh schedules, which is why they dominated Thursday’s cancellations, and Simple Flying noted that every Riyadh Air flight touches the city, so a closure there reaches its whole network.

It is not the first time a Saudia jet has been caught in someone else’s war. In April 2023, Saudia said an Airbus A330 was “exposed to gunfire damage” at Khartoum with guests and crew aboard as fighting broke out in Sudan, and it suspended Sudan flights, Arab News reported.

The airport was already disrupted on September 19, when a fuel tank burned beside it. The next test for long-haul carriers is Delta’s planned Atlanta to Riyadh launch on October 23, which Simple Flying said Delta had not postponed at the time of its report.