UAE travellers faced a second straight day of major flight disruptions, with Saudi Arabia bearing the brunt of a regional security flare-up. The trouble traces back to a Houthi missile attack on the presidential palace in Aden on Thursday, October 14, which reportedly killed at least four people and sharply raised tensions across the region.
Of 1,178 scheduled Saudi departures, 552 — nearly 47 percent — were cancelled or failed to operate, according to published figures. Riyadh's airport alone recorded an 81.4 percent cancellation rate. The fallout has directly hit UAE-based carriers' route networks into the kingdom.
Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai and Air Arabia all had to cancel or delay portions of their schedules. Emirates cancelled all eight of its scheduled Saudi departures outright on October 15. Aviation authorities say the disruption is expected to peak between October 15 and 19, with conditions likely to stay volatile through that window.
The turbulence comes alongside a separate set of international route changes affecting Dubai. Lufthansa's Munich and Frankfurt services to Dubai are due to resume on October 25 and 26 respectively, while Swiss's Zurich-Dubai route restarts on October 27. Singapore Airlines is expected to resume its own Dubai service from December 1, while Cathay Pacific's suspension has been extended through January 31, 2027.
Travellers heading to or through the region are advised to check directly with their airline before departure, as the situation remains fluid in the days ahead.