Seven Countries Warn Against Travel to Saudi Arabia — SkimNews
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- Seven countries — the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea — have issued travel advisories against Saudi Arabia, with Australia and New Zealand the latest to act on Monday.
- South Korea issued the most aggressive advisory, telling citizens already in Saudi Arabia to leave unless their business is essential.
- The US embassy in Riyadh cited the threat from Iran and its Iranian-backed Houthi proxies as the basis for its advisory, framing the airport strikes as part of a wider regional confrontation.
- Saturday's Houthi strike on King Khalid International Airport killed 13 people and injured more than 300 — the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in more than a decade — while a follow-up hit on Sunday killed one and wounded 11.
- King Khalid International Airport and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam remain closed after the strikes, with Jeddah's King Abdulaziz seeing more than 150 flights cancelled and 374 delayed on Sunday alone.
- The Houthis have claimed responsibility for four of the five airport strikes; Sunday's attack has yet to be claimed by any group.
Why it matters: With Riyadh and Dammam airports shut and 150+ Jeddah flights cancelled in a single Sunday, Saudi Arabia's role as a transit gateway between Europe, Asia, and Africa is taking a direct operational hit — and independent analyst Brendan Sobie told Al Jazeera that how long the closures persist will determine how far the disruption ripples across regional aviation.
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