Riyadh airport extends suspension after attacks

Riyadh: Saudi authorities on Monday extended the suspension of operations at Riyadh's international airport following a series of deadly Houthi attacks.

Strikes on the airport in recent days have killed at least 18 people, including 13 on Saturday in the deadliest attack on the kingdom in more than a decade, with hundreds also wounded.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation in a statement 'announced the extension of the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport'.

It said the extension was needed to 'complete the necessary procedures to verify the safety of the facilities and their operational readiness'.

The authority did not specify when operations would resume.

A senior aviation source who oversees flights to the Gulf for an airline said operations would be halted for the remainder of the working week in Saudi Arabia, according to messages sent to the carrier on Monday from Saudi aviation authorities.

'They told us it would be until at least Thursday. There are no flights until the end of the week,' the source told AFP.

He added that Terminals 3 and 4 were damaged, along with the airport's radar and communications equipment, and the runways have yet to be assessed.

The UAE's national carrier Etihad Airways announced on Monday that it was cancelling all flights to and from Riyadh until next week due to 'regional disruption'.

It has also suspended flights to the Saudi cities of Dammam and Jeddah this week.

Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air also said it was cancelling all Riyadh flights until Saturday.

A senior official from the Riyadh Metro told AFP that authorities had suspended transport services to three stations serving the airport.