Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said an attack on Riyadh's airport on October 10 killed 12 people and injured 309, forcing the suspension of operations and the cancellation of hundreds of flights, Emerging Travel reported on October 11.

The dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one national each from the US, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan, according to GACA. The authority said operations were suspended temporarily and has given no reopening date, although an unnamed air traffic control source told Russian news agency TASS that the closure was expected to last until about the end of October 11.

Flightradar24 data showed 271 departures from Saudi Arabia cancelled by 5:34am local time on October 11, some 73% of those scheduled, while FlightAware recorded at least 291 cancellations in 24 hours. Air India, flydubai, the Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines have suspended Saudi services, and Kuwait Airways, Etihad and Qatar Airways have cancelled flights.

The attack follows a run of strikes on Saudi aviation targets. Abha airport was hit on October 6, and two further attacks on October 8 struck a Saudia aircraft and killed its pilot, Captain Hamoud Ali AlKalthami. A coalition spokesman, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, also said a projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has widened its guidance on flying in the region.

The disruption comes after IntelliNews reported on September 30 that air operations had been suspended at Riyadh's King Khalid airport,.