Missile said to have struck parked Saudia Airbus at Riyadh airport

A missile is reported to have hit a parked aircraft at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday morning, according to images circulating on social media. The aircraft was thought to be an Airbus operated by Saudia. Reuters reported it was probably empty. No injuries have been reported, and the hit has not been officially confirmed.

Images posted online showed the burned-out aircraft. The airport closed at around 7am, according to the flight tracking service Flightradar24, and flight operations were halted for roughly two hours, the newspaper The National reported. By the morning, 58 departures were delayed and 11 flights were cancelled, among them Saudia services to Dubai and a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul. The US embassy in Riyadh warned of further disruption and airspace closures.

The Houthi militia in Yemen has attacked airports in Saudi Arabia for days. Attacks on Monday evening hit the airports of Jizan and Najran, and the group called on airlines to stop flying over Saudi Arabia. In attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, one person died in Riyadh and two in Abha, with 36 injured, according to the Saudi aviation authority GACA.

A Houthi military spokesman said on X that a ballistic missile had hit its target precisely, and again urged airlines to avoid Saudi airspace. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the attack. The airport has since reopened.