Riyadh airport closure disrupts 9,269 passengers on Bangladesh routes
Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport have halted direct and connecting flights between Bangladesh and Riyadh, leaving thousands of passengers stranded or waiting.
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In a Nutshell
- CAAB reported 61 cancelled or suspended flights and 9,269 affected passengers in its October 13 update.
- The affected services included 22 direct and 39 connecting flights. Biman accounted for nine direct flights, Riyadh Air seven, Saudia four and US-Bangla two.
- Among connecting carriers, IndiGo recorded 16 affected flights, Emirates nine, Qatar Airways and flydubai five each, SalamAir three and EgyptAir one.
- The passenger count rose from 8,381 in CAAB’s previous update, while the number of affected flights stayed the same.
- Saudi authorities said 12 people, including two Bangladeshis, were killed and 309 injured in the October 10 attack on the airport.
Context
Yemen’s Houthis have struck King Khalid International Airport several times since October 8, when an attack killed three Saudi citizens. The deadliest came on Saturday, October 10, after which Saudi authorities suspended operations. Cancellations from Dhaka began that night. By Sunday afternoon CAAB counted eight cancelled flights and 2,951 passengers. The count has since grown as more direct flights were cancelled and connecting services were included. Riyadh airport’s closure has reportedly been extended until October 17. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry has asked travellers unable to reach the kingdom to contact Saudi missions in their countries.
Why It Matters
More than 3.5 million Bangladeshis work in Saudi Arabia, more than in any other country, and two of them are among the dead. The immediate risk is to people rather than money. Workers already in the kingdom can still send wages home. Those caught on the wrong side of the closure cannot easily get back to work.
New recruits have joining dates, and workers home on leave hold exit and re-entry visas that expire. Behind them sits Bangladesh’s largest remittance source: $5.85 billion of $35.59 billion in FY2025-26, and $1.65 billion, or 19.2%, in the first quarter of FY2026-27. A week’s closure is unlikely to dent that. A sustained pattern of attacks on Saudi infrastructure is a different question.
What We Think
CAAB’s count tells us how many seats were lost, not who was in them. A list showing which of the 9,269 are workers with joining dates or lapsing visas would let the embassy press Saudi Arabia for extensions, as it granted during COVID.
Safety is the harder question.
The attacks have targeted airports rather than the places where most Bangladeshis live and work, and nothing so far justifies evacuation talk. But other embassies have warned their citizens away from the airport area, and Bangladesh’s own advice to workers in Riyadh has been hard to find. The decision on when Biman and US-Bangla will resume flights to Riyadh also belongs to CAAB, not Riyadh.