Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Wikipedia)
United Arab Emirates (UAE) passengers faced disruptions on Tuesday, July 14, after many flights were cancelled due to Houthis targeting the Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones.
Two return services from Abha to Dubai and one to Sharjah were cancelled, along with two flights from Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 2.
According to a Gulf News report, at least 10 departures from Abha were cancelled between 11:50 am and 5:55 pm, including five Saudia services and two Flyadeal flights.
Three departures to Riyadh and two flights to Jeddah were cancelled by Saudia, and two flights from Abha to Jeddah were cancelled by Flyadeal.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport in response to airstrikes they blamed on Riyadh that struck Sanaa International Airport earlier.
No casualties were reported, but the attacks on Monday, July 13, marked an escalation not seen since a Saudi-led coalition struck Houthi-controlled areas several years ago. Saudi Arabian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the airstrikes in Yemen.
Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree, in a video statement on Telegram, warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace, saying these warnings should be taken “seriously until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted.”
The internationally recognised government in Yemen said earlier that the strikes that hit Sanaa International Airport were meant to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.
The Houthis vowed to retaliate for the strike, which marked the first major escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia following a period of relative calm.
The UN Security Council, in an emergency meeting on the developments on Monday afternoon, expressed concern about the risk of a wider escalation.
“Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation,” UN Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs Khaled Khiari told the 15-member council. “We call on all actors to constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices.”
For years, a Saudi-led coalition based in Yemen’s south has fought the Houthis in the north.
Saree said on Telegram earlier on Monday that Saudi Arabia launched the airstrikes in what he called the end of a period of “de-escalation.” He warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished.”
In the latest Telegram update, Saree said the strikes in Sanaa were aimed at “closing it to humanitarian flights carrying patients and stranded individuals to and from Sanaa International Airport.”
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition, including the UAE, intervened the following year to try to restore the government to power. Tensions rose earlier this year between US allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE as their years-long partnership in the war in Yemen broke down, leading to the UAE pulling out of Yemen.
The official spokesperson of the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, Major General Turki al-Malki, said Monday evening on X that air defences dealt with ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward the southern region without providing further details.
The attack on the airport in Sanaa comes after tensions between the two sides flared earlier this month. The Houthis alleged that Saudi planes violated their airspace to try to prevent an Iranian plane from carrying a Houthi delegation to Tehran for the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Yemen’s Defence Minister Gen. Taher al-Aqili said in a post on X that the airport’s runway was struck Monday to stop an Iranian plane transporting the Houthi delegation from returning from the funeral.
In a video statement released shortly before the strikes, al-Aqili warned against infiltrating Yemeni airspace with Iranian aircraft.
“At this moment, we say that our patience has run out. Accordingly, we will respond appropriately to this treacherous and brutal act, and we will confront and deal with the hostile aircraft violating Yemeni airspace and sovereignty by all available means,” he said.
The Houthis said the plane was diverted to Hodeida Airport, where it landed.
Video footage by the Houthi-controlled al-Masirah broadcaster appeared to show a missile striking a runway at Sanaa airport followed by a loud explosion.
A statement from the government in the south said that all airports in Yemen were “closed until further notice, with immediate effect”. The Yemeni defence ministry issued orders to evacuate the airport and surrounding areas.
Rashad al-Alimi, who leads Yemen’s ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said Iran had made a request to operate a flight by Iranian airline Mahan Air from Tehran to Sanaa to return the Houthi delegation.
The council, which denied the request, said in a statement Monday that Houthis had insisted on receiving the Iranian flight “outside the legal and sovereign frameworks governing civil aviation”.
Hans Grundberg, the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, said in a statement that his office is monitoring Yemeni airspace developments and expressed concern about the risk of wider escalation. He called on involved parties to engage in dialogue that preserves the “relative calm Yemen has experienced since 2022”.
Houthi-controlled areas were last targeted by the Saudi-led coalition before a UN-brokered truce to cease hostilities came into effect in 2022.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
This post was last modified on July 14, 2026 4:03 pm