Cairo, Oct 20 (dpa/GNA) – Major airlines are still avoiding the Saudi capital Riyadh, more than a week after a heavy Houthi militia attack on its airport.
King Khalid International Airport has reopened for take-offs and landings, according to a notice to air missions (NOTAM) issued in the early hours of Monday.
Flight operations had been suspended until the weekend, following repeated attacks that left a total of 18 people dead and hundreds injured. The risk of further attacks is seen as high.
The Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen has attacked the airport several times. In one of the attacks a little over a week ago, 13 people were killed and more than 300 others injured.
Large airlines from Europe, Asia and the Gulf region, still will not fly to Riyadh for now. Germany’s Lufthansa Group extended its suspension of flights to Riyadh by about four weeks, until November 18.
British Airways and KLM do not plan to serve the airport until at least the end of the month, while similar announcements have come from some Asian and Arab airlines.
Qatar Airways has suspended flights to Riyadh and Dammam in the east of the kingdom until further notice. According to flight-tracking service Flightradar24, more than 80% of scheduled flights at King Khalid International Airport were cancelled on Monday.
NOTAMs – originally from the phrase “notice to air men,” but also sometimes understood as “notice to aviation”, are messages for global air traffic that pilots worldwide can access.
They cover closed or restricted airspace, current hazards and failures of certain navigation systems.
GNA