All six scheduled flights between Dubai and Riyadh were cancelled on Thursday, October 22, after an attack struck King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, leaving one person dead and eight injured, according to officials.
Flydubai and Emirates, the two carriers operating the route, each pulled three outbound and three return flights from their schedules. Thousands of travellers bound for Saudi Arabia faced sudden disruption, and several airlines warned that cancellations could extend through October 24 as they reassess safety conditions along the corridor.
The strike on the airport followed a separate incident earlier in the week, when a drone attack on Saudi oil infrastructure killed two foreign workers, a Filipino and a Nepali national. Together, the two events have pushed regional aviation authorities to tighten monitoring of flight paths near contested airspace, with several carriers rerouting services away from affected corridors as a precaution.
Dubai International Airport has not reported disruptions to its own operations, and officials stressed that the emirate's broader flight network continues to run normally. Still, passengers travelling to or from Saudi Arabia have been urged to check directly with their airline before heading to the airport, as schedules remain fluid.
The episode is the latest reminder of how quickly regional security incidents can ripple through Gulf aviation, a sector that has already absorbed repeated shocks this year from the wider conflict involving Iran. Analysts say airlines are likely to keep contingency plans ready for further short-notice cancellations as the security situation across the region remains unsettled.