Flights at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport, Saudi Arabia's second-busiest, appear to have been paused on Saturday night, October 17. Flight tracking data from FlightAware showed no planes taking off from Jeddah after about 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m. Eastern), and only one landed in the next hour. More than 20 flights headed for Jeddah were in the air, many circling in holding patterns nearby, before arrivals began to resume shortly after 3 p.m. Eastern.
Several social media accounts have reported that a missile from Yemen targeted the airport. Saudi authorities, the airport and Saudi airlines haven't confirmed that or given any other reason for the disruption, and Contrail hasn't been able to verify it.
Developing · Jeddah (JED)
What We Know About Jeddah's Pause
Contrail
What We Know
- Departures stopped at about 2 p.m. Eastern and hadn’t resumed as of 3:20 p.m.
- Arrivals nearly stopped for about an hour, with planes from Cairo, Paris, Amsterdam, Doha, Bahrain and elsewhere holding in the air. Landings resumed shortly after 3 p.m. Eastern.
- No flights had diverted to other airports as of 3:20 p.m. Eastern, according to FlightAware.
Why It Matters
Jeddah has become even more important in the past week. Riyadh's main airport has been closed to commercial flights since October 10 after attacks claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, so more traffic has been running through Jeddah. It's also the main gateway for pilgrims heading to Mecca.
What to Do if You're Flying
- Check your airline's app before heading to the airport. Saudia, flynas and flyadeal post updates there first.
- If you're in the air, your flight may hold or divert to another Saudi airport such as Medina or Taif.
