Riyadh airport NOTAM expires as airlines stagger return to RUH flights

The aviation notice that grounded hundreds of flights out of Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH) has formally expired. NOTAM A3604/26 lapsed at 2100 GMT on October 17 — midnight Saudi time heading into October 18 — after Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) completed runway and terminal safety inspections. The expiration follows Karmactive’s earlier coverage of the October 6–7 and October 10 Houthi missile attacks, which killed 15–16 people combined and injured hundreds, and forced the cancellation of more than 3,100 flights — a 99.7% cancellation rate on the worst-hit day, per Cirium cancellation telemetry.

At the time those earlier reports published, no reopening date had been set. That changed this weekend, triggering a new wave of searches from travelers in the US, UK, Europe, India, and across Gulf hubs trying to determine which of the roughly 36 foreign carriers serving Riyadh are actually resuming flights on October 18.

Which airlines are returning, and when

Saudia is running limited domestic operations as the home carrier restarts. SriLankan Airlines, IndiGo, and Air India have each reached their scheduled resumption windows. Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian — all part of the Lufthansa Group — suspended service through October 16 and are expected to resume flights October 18–19 as aircraft are repositioned. Etihad Airways remains suspended until October 19. Air France-KLM has extended its suspension to October 25, with some schedules not resuming until the end of October. Cathay Pacific has suspended Riyadh service until January 31, 2027, and Delta Air Lines has postponed the planned launch of its Atlanta–Riyadh route to March 2027.

Why a legally open airport doesn’t mean every flight resumes

The distinction driving these staggered timelines is that NOTAM A3604/26 only covers the physical closure of the airport. A separate airspace conflict-zone warning for the region remains active until December 10, 2026. Because hull-war insurance underwriters price risk against that December 10 warning rather than GACA’s runway inspection, several carriers are keeping aircraft grounded well past the point where the terminal itself is legally open. That gap explains why Cathay Pacific, Delta, and Air France-KLM are each extending suspensions for weeks or months beyond October 18.

The reopening also marks the start of the operational unwind from the disruption Karmactive tracked when markets reacted to the initial attacks and shutdown; with flights now staggering back, full airline capacity remains weeks to months away for several major carriers.

Travelers booked to or through Riyadh should not assume a flight is operating simply because the airport’s closure notice expired. The airline-by-airline split above reflects individual carrier risk assessments as much as airport readiness, and the return timeline is expected to keep shifting as more airlines complete their own safety reviews. Anyone with an upcoming booking should confirm status directly with their airline rather than relying on the airport’s reopening alone.