Houthi missiles shut Riyadh's main airport. Will King Khalid International take commercial flights again by Oct 18?
50% of users predicted YES — the community got this one right. 8 predictions cast.
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh resumed commercial flight operations on Sunday, October 18, 2026, following a string of Houthi missile attacks on the Saudi capital earlier in the month that struck the airport and forced its closure. The attacks, which began around October 8 and recurred over the following days, prompted Saudi aviation authorities to shut the facility and extend the closure while crews assessed structural damage and carried out additional security checks before clearing it to reopen. Even after reopening, normal service did not fully return: several international carriers, including Lufthansa and KLM, kept Riyadh flights suspended into November, Delta Air Lines pushed back the planned launch of its Atlanta-Riyadh route to March 2027, and arriving and departing aircraft required prior clearance from Saudi aviation regulators under a temporary notice. The attacks were part of a broader escalation of Houthi strikes on Saudi territory tied to the wider Yemen conflict. Predict Six's community was evenly split on this question, with 50 percent forecasting the airport would reopen in time, reflecting genuine uncertainty about how quickly Saudi authorities would clear the airport for traffic after the attacks.