Etihad Keeps Riyadh and Dammam Flights Cancelled Until November 19

The routes link the UAE's main hubs with Riyadh and with Dammam, the gateway to Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province, and they carry heavy business traffic in both directions. Etihad's suspension also covers cargo. The airline has warned that the situation remains dynamic and that schedules could change again.

The cancellations follow Houthi attacks inside Saudi Arabia. According to Khaleej Times, the attacks have targeted an airport and, more recently, a building in Riyadh linked to Saudi Aramco. On Tuesday, Saudi air defences intercepted Houthi missiles and a drone, and schools in Riyadh moved classes online as a precaution, Gulf News reported. UAE carriers began cancelling Saudi flights in October and have since extended the suspensions several times.

Carriers have handled the disruption differently. Etihad brought back four Abu Dhabi–Jeddah flights, EY601, EY602, EY603 and EY604, on November 6 and has kept other Jeddah services running, but has pushed its Riyadh and Dammam restart back to November 19. Earlier plans had pointed to some of those services returning in early November.

Flydubai has suspended Riyadh and Abha flights until November 16, and its booking system shows them from November 17. A flydubai spokesperson said on November 6 that the airline "continues to monitor the situation and may make further changes to its schedules." Dammam flights had been bookable from November 10, but on that day flight-status listings showed four Dammam services, FZ863, FZ867, FZ869 and FZ883, as cancelled. The airline is still flying to Jeddah, Madinah, Tabuk and Taif.

Emirates' published schedule had shown Dubai–Riyadh and Dubai–Dammam flights restarting on November 8. Its listings for November 9 still showed three Dammam flights, EK821, EK823 and EK827, and three Riyadh flights, EK815, EK817 and EK819, as cancelled, along with one Jeddah service, EK801. Its Madinah flights have run throughout.

Air Arabia has cancelled selected flights from Sharjah, including G9151 and G9154 to Riyadh, G9195 to Abha and G9398 to Jizan, while its services to Dammam, Gassim, Ha'il, Jeddah, Madinah and Tabuk are operating.

Saudi carriers have also been hit. Flynas cancelled several Riyadh flights on November 9, and Riyadh Air cancelled two departures from the capital, RX241 and RX243, according to Khaleej Times. Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport has partly reopened, but some flights still face restrictions and need advance operating permission.

The airlines have told passengers that a bookable future flight does not guarantee that the service will operate, and have urged them to check status pages before travelling. The next test is flydubai's planned Riyadh and Abha restart on November 17, followed by Etihad's on November 19.