Riyadh airport reopens despite Houthi threat of more strikes

Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport lifted its two-week closure on Sunday, allowing flights to resume. This comes after the Yemeni Houthi group threatened additional strikes on the Saudi capital. The first plane took off early Sunday, heading to Jeddah, according to Flight Radar monitoring site. Saudi Arabia, backed by Yemen's internationally recognized government, has been facing a series of Houthi attacks in recent weeks, following a long-standing truce that ended in the summer.

The fighting has shifted the focus of the broader US-Iran conflict and further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, one of the world's poorest nations.

King Khalid Airport will now separate its terminals, with Terminal 1 designated for domestic flights and Terminal 2 for international flights operated by national carriers, according to a statement on X on Saturday. The Houthi group has launched multiple strikes on the airport, with a particularly deadly attack this month that killed 13 people and wounded over 300, marking it as the deadliest in the kingdom in over a decade.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree has warned that the airport is still unsafe and a military target. The Yemeni Armed Forces have cautioned all international, regional, and local airlines, as well as staff and travelers, against using King Khalid Airport due to the ongoing risks. Saudi Arabia has vowed to hold the regime accountable for any operations conducted at the airport.

The Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis reported shooting down two drones in the Riyadh area on early Sunday.