EASA widens Saudi airspace warning to cover Riyadh and Dammam

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has extended its recommended airspace restrictions for Saudi Arabia, citing a rise in paramilitary attacks by Houthi forces.

The revised guidance took effect on 9 October. It adds a new area of concern covering Riyadh's international airport, with a boundary stretching from the Kuwait flight information region to Qatar's Doha FIR. Dammam airport falls inside the same zone, along with Al Qaisumah and Al Ahsa.

Restrictions previously applied in the south of the country, running from the Yemen border north to Taif, have also been widened to take in Madinah, a change that in practice affects Jeddah as well.

According to EASA, Riyadh and its airport were hit by repeated missile and drone strikes during an escalation of military activity in late September and early October. The agency said the attacks during that period showed a stronger focus on aviation infrastructure than before, raising the risk to aircraft on the ground and during take-off and landing in the areas concerned.

The measure leaves international operators a narrower corridor for crossing Saudi airspace. EASA set the northern edge of the zone within the Jeddah FIR by a series of waypoints, and the southern edge by another list of fixes. It advised operators to exercise caution and weigh potential risks when flying in the rest of the Jeddah FIR.