Loud blast heard at Riyadh airport as airlines cancel more flights

A powerful explosion was heard at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, according to eyewitnesses and officials familiar with the incident. The blast occurred amid a surge in missile attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels. Neither the Saudi government's media office nor the civil aviation authority provided immediate statements.

In response to the attack, King Khalid Airport advised passengers to reach out to their respective airlines to verify flight statuses before traveling. Several major airlines, including Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, suspended or canceled numerous flights between their home bases and Riyadh. Some of these cancellations persisted into Monday.

The Saturday blast followed a series of assaults on Riyadh airport earlier in the week. Those attacks resulted in four deaths, multiple injuries, inflicted damage to a Saudia aircraft, and produced smoke that obscured the facility. These assaults compelled multiple airlines to suspend or abort services to the Saudi capital, just prior to Riyadh's scheduled hosting of significant energy and investment gatherings.