Saudi Arabian Airspace Advisory

European regulators tell airlines not to operate, at any height, in two areas of Saudi Arabia's airspace, and to take care across the rest of it. The first runs along the Red Sea coast from Jeddah, whose airport lies just inside its edge, up past Yanbu and inland around Medina, and south through Taif, Abha and Jazan to the border with Yemen. The second takes in Riyadh and the east of the country, from the Gulf coast at Dammam to the border with Kuwait. Missile and drone attacks by the Houthis, who are based in Yemen, now reach well beyond the south of the country, including the Riyadh, Tabuk, Medina and Yanbu areas, and they raise the risk that a civil aircraft is mistaken for a target or hit by falling debris. Riyadh's main airport was attacked on 8 October and again on 10 October 2026; after the second attack Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority suspended operations at the airport for a time. Some countries go further: France asked its airlines on 7 October 2026 not to enter Saudi airspace except on some northern and western routes, and Canada recommended on 8 October 2026 that its airlines stay out of it.