Reporting snapshot · 9 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). PIA describes its Riyadh suspension as temporary. The casualty figures come from Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority; the Houthis' claims about which missiles were used and which other sites were hit have not been independently confirmed, and airline schedules can change at short notice.
What happened
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) temporarily suspended its flight operations to Riyadh on Friday, 9 October 2026, after a fresh wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi airports, its spokesperson said. PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafiz Khan said the airline had cancelled flight PK-753 from Islamabad to Riyadh and the return service PK-754, and advised passengers to contact the PIA call centre before leaving for the airport.
The suspension followed two attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday, 8 October. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Friday that three Saudi nationals were killed and several people were injured in the two attacks, which caused material damage, Reuters reported via Geo News. The aviation authority said the first attack targeted airport facilities and the second struck an aircraft belonging to the state carrier Saudia. Saudia said one of those killed was its own employee. GACA said airport operations had resumed and air traffic had returned to normal.
The Houthis said they attacked the airport with two cruise missiles, and also claimed strikes on Najran airport in the south-west and on Khamis Mushait air base, claims Saudi authorities have not confirmed. A Saudi-led coalition said on Friday that it had destroyed three Houthi missile launch platforms and warned that attacks on civilians would meet a firm response, Reuters and Anadolu Agency reported.
A second deadly wave in a single week
The 8 October attacks were the second time in days that Houthi missiles and drones hit Saudi aviation. On 6 and 7 October, strikes on King Khalid airport and Abha International Airport killed three people and wounded 36, including a Pakistani resident, according to the Saudi civil aviation authority. One person was killed and eight were wounded at Riyadh, where a Sudanese resident died and the injured included a Pakistani national; two people were killed and 28 wounded at Abha.
KhabarWire has reported on the earlier strikes and on Pakistan’s denial of a New York Times report that its air force was being used against the Houthis, and on the Makkah pact’s activation. The latest round again put civil aviation at the centre of a war that is a spillover from the wider US-Iran conflict and has escalated around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a chokepoint for Red Sea shipping.
Why the suspension matters for Pakistan
The PIA decision is the most direct way the escalation has reached Pakistani travellers. The Gulf is the main overseas destination for Pakistani labour, and about two million Pakistanis work in the region; their remittances are a pillar of the current account. When a flag-carrier route to a Gulf capital is cut, the disruption is felt by migrant workers, business travellers and families, even when other carriers keep flying.
The attack also lands squarely on Pakistan’s alliance commitments. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that Pakistan’s commitment to Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and security under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was “resolute”, condemned the attacks on the two airports and urged the Houthis to stop them, Geo News reported. The pact, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on 7 August 2026, treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all three. Its Strategic-Political and Defence Committee decided in Riyadh on 5 October to move to the “rapid deployment” of agreed forces and capabilities.
Pakistan’s own messaging has tried to hold a line between defending Saudi territory and joining the fighting inside Yemen. The Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, has said that Pakistani troops have been in Saudi Arabia for decades in multiple domains. On Friday he said Pakistan remained committed to a negotiated, peaceful outcome between the United States and Iran and did not want the Middle East conflict to widen further, The Express Tribune reported.
What is still uncertain
Several things remain unverified or open. First, the Houthis’ specific claims — the number and type of missiles used, and the reported strikes on Najran and Khamis Mushait — have not been confirmed by Saudi authorities. Second, the opposing accounts of casualties in the wider Yemen fighting cannot be independently reconciled: both sides have alleged heavy losses without publishing full figures, and the United Nations says three in four families are going hungry in parts of Yemen.
Third, PIA has not said how long the Riyadh suspension will last, whether other Saudi routes could be affected, or how many passengers have been rerouted; the airline has pointed travellers to its call centre. Whether the route reopens will depend on the security assessment of Saudi airspace and on the trajectory of a war that has already drawn in Pakistan under a mutual-defence pact Islamabad describes as defensive.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 9 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). The PIA suspension, the cancelled flights and the airline spokesperson's advice come from The Express Tribune's report of his statement, corroborated by Geo News. The 8 October casualty figures, the strikes on airport facilities and a Saudia aircraft, and the Houthi missile claims are taken from Reuters as carried by Geo News and from the BBC's account of the Saudi civil aviation authority statement. The 6-7 October figures, the coalition response and the prime minister's remarks come from The Express Tribune and Geo News. Where Saudi and Houthi accounts differ, both are attributed.
- The Express Tribune — PIA temporarily suspends flight operations to Riyadh amid Houthi attacks on Saudi airportsPublished 9 October 2026 · PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafiz Khan's statement, the cancelled PK-753 and PK-754 flights, the call-centre advice, and the 6-7 October casualty figures including the injured Pakistani.
- Geo News (Reuters) — Three Saudi nationals killed, several hurt in Houthi attacks on Riyadh airportPublished 9 October 2026 · The Saudi civil aviation authority statement on the 8 October attacks, the Saudia aircraft, the Houthi cruise-missile claim, and the resumption of air traffic.
- BBC News — Three Saudi nationals killed in Houthi attacks on Riyadh airportPublished 9 October 2026 · Independent confirmation of the 8 October casualties, the Saudia pilot, the earlier 6-7 October deaths, and the wider Yemen escalation.
- The Express Tribune (Reuters / Anadolu Agency) — Houthi strikes on Riyadh airport killed three Saudis as war escalatesPublished 9 October 2026 · The Friday confirmation of the death toll, the damaged Saudia plane, the Saudi-led coalition's destruction of three launch platforms, and the Sanaa and Taiz airstrikes.
- Geo News — Pakistan pledges 'resolute' commitment to Saudi Arabia's security under Makkah pactPublished 9 October 2026 · Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's statement, the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement commitment, the rapid-deployment decision and the 6-7 October casualty detail.
- The Express Tribune (Reuters / Anadolu Agency) — Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted 3 Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh, Khamis MushaitPublished 8 October 2026 · The 6-7 October GACA statement, the wounded Pakistani resident and other nationalities, the intercepted missiles and the Houthi warnings to airlines.
