Is Dammam airport open? Yes, for now. King Fahd International Airport, the main airport for Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, reopened on Thursday, a day after an attack killed two people there. But if you're booked on a foreign airline, there's a good chance your flight still isn't operating, and some carriers have pulled out until late November.
What Happened
On Wednesday evening, October 21, an attack hit King Fahd International Airport. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident were killed and eight other people were injured, some seriously. The airport shut down, and operations resumed on Thursday, with the authority saying air traffic had returned to normal.
It was the second time this month the airport was targeted. On the evening of October 11, Saudi aviation officials said Dammam's airport had been attacked, hours after a projectile hit a terminal at Riyadh's airport and closed the capital's main airport.
The official statements reported so far don't say what struck Dammam's airport on Wednesday or who launched it. The attacks have come during weeks of drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia from Yemen's Houthi movement, which have repeatedly targeted airports.
Saudi Arabia · Airports
Dammam's Airport Is Open. Many Airlines Aren't Back
Contrail
A Pause on Friday Evening
Flights at Dammam stopped for a stretch on Friday evening. FlightAware data shows no planes landed for about an hour and a half after about 6:45 p.m. local time, while flights from Jeddah, Medina and Abha circled in holding patterns west of the city. Those flights began landing around 8:20 p.m. Departures were halted for longer, with nothing taking off from about 6:20 p.m. until shortly before 9 p.m. Flights were running again by late evening.
No reason for the pause has been given. Holding patterns can happen for many reasons, from weather to air traffic, but after this week, it's worth watching.
Which Airlines Have Suspended Dammam Flights
Saudia, flynas and flyadeal are all still flying in and out of Dammam, and a few foreign airlines, including Gulf Air, Middle East Airlines and PIA, operated flights there on Friday. But many others aren't flying. As of Friday, these carriers have suspended Dammam flights:
- Lufthansa Group: through November 30
- Etihad: until November 5
- KLM: through October 31
- SalamAir: until October 31
- flydubai: through October 29
- Emirates: until October 25
- Qatar Airways, Air India and IndiGo: through October 24
- Air Arabia: no date given for resuming
Airlines have been extending these dates as they go, so the end dates could slide.
Riyadh and Jeddah
Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport has partly reopened after its closure earlier this month, but international service is still heavily disrupted. Lufthansa has suspended Riyadh flights until November 18, and Cathay Pacific won't return until the end of January. Jeddah is running with fewer flights from some airlines. Qatar Airways has cut its daily Jeddah flights from seven to four, and Etihad has canceled some services there until November 5.
If You're Flying to Saudi Arabia
Check your flight directly with your airline before you leave for the airport, since schedules are changing at short notice. If your airline has canceled, you're usually entitled to a refund or a rebooking, and flying a Saudi airline or connecting through a nearby hub like Doha or Bahrain may get you there.
It's also worth reading your government's travel advice. The UK and Canada both advise against all but essential travel to Saudi Arabia, and the US has warned of possible attacks on airports.
