Large plume of black smoke rises from the fuel storage area at King Khalid International Airport, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: REUTERS)
Tensions have soared in West Asia yet again afterHouthi attack on the Saudi capital Riyadh, prompting travel advisory and disrupting air travel in the region. Flight operations to and from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh were disrupted on Saturday after smoke was seen near the airport.
Late on Saturday night, travel disruption played out thousands of kilometres away from Riyadh, at Delhi’s international airport. Around 200 passengers who had boarded Etihad Airways flight EY217, bound for Abu Dhabi, found themselves waiting, then deboarding, and finally watching their journey cancelled altogether all because of a technical fault discovered on the aircraft shortly before departure.
Flames and a large plume of black smoke are seen near Riyadh's King Khalid Airport after Saudi Arabia issued an air raid alert for the capital. Saudi Civil Defense later declared the danger over. pic.twitter.com/kqaVTYxsuD
Flight EY217 was scheduled to depart Delhi for Abu Dhabi at 9:15 pm. Passengers said around 200 people were taken off the aircraft after the crew announced there was a technical issue. They waited for a few hours before the airline confirmed the flight was cancelled altogether, leaving many to look for other ways to complete their journey.
According to Flightradar24.com, the flight was due to be operated using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The exact nature of the technical fault has not been confirmed.
What’s behind the chaos at Riyadh Airport?
Aircraft tracking website Flightradar24 said on Saturday that Riyadh’s airport was facing major problems. It placed the airport at its highest disruption level, 5.0, which the site describes as long delays and several flights being cancelled. The disruption wasn’t limited to Riyadh itself flights to and from Dubai and Sharjah were also hit as a knock-on result of the issues at King Khalid International Airport.
Saudi-led coalition forces said they intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis towards Riyadh on Saturday. Major General Turki Al-Malki, spokesperson for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, said the Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces shot down the missile early that morning. He accused the Houthi militia of repeatedly trying to hit civilians and civilian sites in Riyadh, a city home to more than eight million people, describing the group’s actions as deliberate and systematic. He called it “hostile and terrorist behaviour.”
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Al-Malki said the Houthis also tried to target the cities of Baish, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu, but that these attempts were stopped by air defence systems. He said the coalition holds the right to respond in line with international humanitarian law to deter further attacks.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthi movement in Yemen have been on opposing sides of Yemen’s long-running conflict for years, with the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government. Riyadh had issued an overnight air raid alert for the second time this weekend, the first such alert since fighting in Yemen intensified this month.
The coalition has repeatedly said Houthi attacks are aimed at civilian areas rather than military targets, a claim the group denies. Saturday’s missile and drone activity, and the disruption it caused at Riyadh’s airport, is the latest flashpoint in that ongoing standoff.
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Large plume of black smoke rises from the fuel storage area at King Khalid International Airport, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: REUTERS) 
