Australia and New Zealand Join Travel Warnings on Saudi Arabia as Riyadh and Dammam Airports Stay Closed

Australia and New Zealand on Monday, 20 Mehr 1405 (12 October 2026), issued travel warnings on Saudi Arabia, following the United States, Canada, the UK, South Korea and Japan. According to Al Jazeera, Australia's foreign affairs department told citizens to avoid King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and to reconsider travel to other Saudi airports; New Zealand urged against travel to that airport and to the provinces of Najran, Jazan and Asir for any reason, and against non-essential travel to the kingdom as a whole. The US embassy in Riyadh had asked citizens on Sunday to reconsider travel to the kingdom. Canada advised against non-essential travel to any part of Saudi Arabia, South Korea recommended its citizens leave unless on essential business, and the UK advised against travel to Jeddah and Dammam and to all airports except Medina.

Al Jazeera writes that Saudi Arabia has suffered five attacks on its airports in less than a week. Saturday's strike on King Khalid airport killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, according to the report, and a further strike on the same airport on Sunday killed one person and injured 11, according to Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority. King Khalid airport in Riyadh and King Fahd airport in Dammam remain closed, and at Jeddah airport more than 150 flights were cancelled and 374 delayed on Sunday (citing Flightradar24). An aviation analyst told Al Jazeera the consequences depend on how long Riyadh airport stays closed and on the restrictions once it reopens.