Direct flights between Dubai and Riyadh remain suspended following recent attacks on Saudi airports and energy infrastructure, forcing many travellers onto longer, more complicated routes to reach their destination. Etihad and flydubai have extended their flight cancellations through at least October 19. As a result, some passengers are flying from Dubai to Bahrain and then completing a five-to-six-hour road journey on to Riyadh. Others are flying into Dammam before driving roughly four hours to the Saudi capital — a route also being used in reverse by travellers heading from Riyadh back to the UAE.
A 59-year-old British professional based in Riyadh, who had travelled to the UK to visit family, said that with the airports closed he had no choice but to find an alternative way home. Vijayan R., a 46-year-old marketer, flew from Dubai to Dammam to attend the World Petroleum Congress 2026 and finished the trip by road. Not everyone is taking the detour, though: traveller Rishi Joshi said he is simply waiting for the airports to reopen rather than attempt the longer routes, adding he hopes "things will open up soon."
The disruption underlines how regional tensions continue to reshape travel between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, leaving both airlines and passengers to absorb costlier, more time-consuming workarounds until direct flights resume.