Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport (RUH) will remain closed after a projectile strike on Passenger Hall No 4 killed 13 people and injured 308 on Saturday, with Saudi Arabia's aviation regulator citing damage assessments as the reason for extending the shutdown.

The closure removes roughly 700 flights a day from the network, according to FlightRadar24 data, making it one of the sharpest single-airport capacity cuts in the Gulf in years. For air cargo, RUH is a key gateway for the Saudi capital's imports and a connecting point for belly capacity on widebody passenger services.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said damage assessments and safety inspections of airport facilities are under way, and that "the safety and operational readiness of the airport's facilities" is driving the decision to keep the airport shut. A subsequent strike on RUH and an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam have prompted similar measures there, with both events still being assessed.

Who is behind the attacks?

Houthi militias from Yemen launched the attacks, which come amid warnings to airlines not to operate in Saudi Arabian airspace. The group says the strikes respond to Saudi Arabia's support for government forces in Yemen. The projectile that hit Passenger Hall No 4 on Saturday has been described by authorities only as "unknown".

The airspace risk extends beyond a single airport. Carriers now face the prospect of rerouting or cancelling Gulf operations entirely, a scenario that would tighten already thin Europe–Gulf–Asia belly capacity and push freight toward Emirates' Dubai hub, Doha and Kuwait.

Which airlines have suspended flights?

Carrier disruption reported by Gulf Business includes:

• Etihad Airways — cancellations between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam through Tuesday, October 13.
• Emirates — selected flight suspensions between Dubai and Saudi destinations.
• Lufthansa Group — RUH services suspended until, provisionally, October 14.

Those dates are provisional, and GACA has given no timeline for reopening. Forwarders with cargo booked via RUH should expect backlogs on reopening and consider rebooking via Jeddah or regional alternatives where capacity allows.

What happens next?

GACA's assessment of RUH and Dammam will determine both the reopening timeline and whether airlines restore schedules in full. Until the regulator confirms the airports' operational readiness, capacity across Saudi Arabia's eastern corridor stays constrained — and any further Houthi strikes on Gulf airports would deepen the disruption for carriers and shippers alike.