{"id":134557,"date":"2026-10-09T20:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T15:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=134557"},"modified":"2026-10-09T20:01:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T15:01:24","slug":"pilot-among-3-saudi-nationals-killed-in-attacks-on-riyadh-airport-authorities-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot among 3 Saudi nationals killed in attacks on Riyadh airport, authorities say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Riyadh, Saudi Arabia(National Times)- Saudi Arabia\u2019s civil aviation authority said on Friday that three Saudi nationals \u200bwere killed and several people were injured in \u200ctwo attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement on X, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said the \u200bfirst attack targeted airport facilities, while the second \u200bstruck an aircraft belonging to Saudi state carrier Saudia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u2060injuries ranged from minor to severe, and the attacks \u200bcaused material damage, it said, adding that airport operations had \u200bresumed and air traffic had returned to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Separately, the kingdom\u2019s national carrier confirmed that a Saudia Airlines pilot was killed, and an aircraft was damaged at Riyadh airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is with profound sadness that Saudia announces the passing of Captain Hamoud Ali Alkalthami,\u201d the Saudi flag-carrier said in a statement, citing an \u201cincident\u201d at King Khalid International Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) also temporarily <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2035895\/pia-temporarily-suspends-flights-to-riyadh-citing-situation-in-the-middle-east-spokesperson\">suspended<\/a> its flight operations to Riyadh, citing the \u201csituation in the Middle East\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PIA\u2019s decision follows similar moves by several other airlines, including Lufthansa Group and three Indian carriers, which suspended flights to Riyadh on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Lufthansa spokesperson told <em>Reuters<\/em> that the German group\u2019s airlines would suspend flights to the Saudi capital until October 16, citing \u201ccurrent developments in the Middle East\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">India\u2019s largest airline, IndiGo, said it had cancelled all flights to and from Riyadh until Oct 9. Air India and Akasa Air also told <em>Reuters<\/em> that they had cancelled flights to and from the Saudi capital until October 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yemen\u2019s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Thursday they had <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/syria-considers-help-yemen-war-after-saudi-airports-come-under-houthi-fire-2026-10-08\/\"><u>attacked the airport<\/u><\/a> with two cruise missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group also \u200bsaid it had targeted an airport in the southwestern city \u200bof Najran, a claim Saudi authorities have not confirmed, and an airbase \u200cin \u2060Khamis Mushait with ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Houthis say they are targeting the kingdom over its support for government forces in Yemen\u2019s reignited civil war. Saudi Arabia says it is backing \u200ban offensive by \u200bYemen\u2019s UN-recognised \u2060government to take back territory from the Houthis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest confirmed casualties come after Saudi authorities \u200bsaid on Wednesday that <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/houthis-launch-missiles-yemens-aden-airport-fighting-intensifies-2026-10-07\/\"><u>three people were killed<\/u><\/a> in \u200bearlier \u2060strikes this week on Riyadh airport and Abha airport in the southwest of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A thick black column of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2035729\"><u>smoke and flames<\/u><\/a> rose from Riyadh airport in a video verified by <em>Reuters<\/em>. A witness and three people briefed on the matter said a stationary commercial plane had caught fire and caused the smoke, though the fire was later put out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After loud booms echoed across Riyadh on Thursday morning, several multinational firms in the King Abdullah Financial District told staff to work from home or evacuated employees, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Diplomats were instructed to shelter in place at their embassies, and at least one international school sent children into a basement for safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The conflict, now an overspill of the \u2060US-Iran \u200bwar, has stoked further upheaveal in \u200ba region already destabilised by the wider war, and threatens to draw other \u200bstates into mountain fighting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Riyadh, Saudi Arabia(National Times)- Saudi Arabia\u2019s civil aviation authority said on Friday that three Saudi nationals \u200bwere killed and several people were injured in \u200ctwo attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday. In a statement on X, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said the \u200bfirst attack targeted airport facilities, while the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pilot among 3 Saudi nationals killed in attacks on Riyadh airport, authorities say - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pilot among 3 Saudi nationals killed in attacks on Riyadh airport, authorities say - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Riyadh, Saudi Arabia(National Times)- Saudi Arabia\u2019s civil aviation authority said on Friday that three Saudi nationals \u200bwere killed and several people were injured in \u200ctwo attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday. In a statement on X, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said the \u200bfirst attack targeted airport facilities, while the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-09T15:01:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-09T15:01:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-670x370-11-6.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/\",\"name\":\"Pilot among 3 Saudi nationals killed in attacks on Riyadh airport, authorities say - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-670x370-11-6.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-09T15:01:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-09T15:01:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-670x370-11-6.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-670x370-11-6.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pilot among 3 Saudi nationals killed in attacks on Riyadh airport, authorities say\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pilot among 3 Saudi nationals killed in attacks on Riyadh airport, authorities say - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/134557\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pilot among 3 Saudi nationals killed in attacks on Riyadh airport, authorities say - Nation","og_description":"Riyadh, Saudi Arabia(National Times)- Saudi Arabia\u2019s civil aviation authority said on Friday that three Saudi nationals \u200bwere killed and several people were injured in \u200ctwo attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday. 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