Riyadh Airport Hit Three Times in a Week, Closed Until October 18: What Air Cargo Shippers to the Middle East Need to Know

For the third time in a week, explosions were reported at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. According to Xinhua, attacks on October 10–11 killed 14 people and injured more than 300. On October 12, Yemen's Houthi movement fired another ballistic missile at the airport and sent drones against the King Khalid air base at Khamis Mushait. On the evening of October 14, the group announced one more missile launch toward the airport; the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted the projectile, but falling debris injured one person in the city. China News Weekly's account underlines the escalation in both tempo and scale.

The operational fact shippers should hold on to comes from the October 12 aeronautical notice: the airport will remain closed until 00:00 local time on October 18. The Houthis have simultaneously warned airlines and passengers worldwide against flying to airports inside Saudi Arabia, exempting only those of Mecca and Medina. That warning has practical weight — even if runways reopen on schedule, carriers will take time to restore schedules, and some will wait longer than others.

King Khalid International is the capital region's only international gateway, carrying substantial bellyhold and freighter traffic. During the closure, cargo destined for Riyadh is being diverted to Jeddah (JED) or Dammam (DMM) and trucked onward, typically adding one to three days. Diversion congestion at those gateways is a real risk this week, and forwarders report routings being rebuilt on the fly. Shippers with cargo booked into RUH should confirm the diversion plan with their carrier rather than assume it.

Two cost lines are moving at the same time. War-risk premiums on Middle East routings tend to reprice after events of this kind, and carriers pass the increase down as surcharges. Fuel is the bigger lever: IATA's jet fuel monitor recorded a further 3.1% weekly rise to October 9, leaving prices 111.2% above a year earlier, with Middle East conflict the principal driver. A fresh round of fuel surcharge resets in the second half of October now looks likely — The Loadstar reported this week that surcharge revisions are already landing, with Cathay Cargo's Hong Kong-origin long-haul surcharge up almost 26% for the first half of the month.

The practical guidance is straightforward. Cargo planned into Riyadh or connecting through RUH should be re-routed early — Jeddah and Dammam first, Dubai (DXB) as a secondary option — with Saudi domestic trucking time built into the schedule. Non-urgent shipments may be better booked after October 18, once the diversion peak passes. And on quotes this month, ask carriers to itemize fuel and war-risk surcharges separately; the volatility in those lines will be larger than usual, and they should not be allowed to hide inside an all-in number.

Yufeng International Logistics runs a Middle East line covering Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other major markets, with air and sea options and door-to-door clearance-inclusive service — see our Middle East line page.

Sources: reported by Xinhua, China National Radio, China News Weekly and The Loadstar.