Flights resume at Riyadh airport after two weeks, Houthis issue fresh warning

Flights resumed on Sunday from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which had been closed for two weeks following attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

According to flight-tracking website Flightradar, a plane flew from Riyadh to Jeddah on Sunday morning. The airport had announced on social media platform X on Saturday that Terminal 1 would be used for domestic flights from October 25.

However, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree has warned that the airport remains unsafe and is still a military target for the group. He said Saudi Arabia would bear responsibility for the consequences of opening the airport.

According to news agency AFP, three explosions were heard in Riyadh on Sunday morning. Before that, residents had been alerted by mobile message about an aerial threat and told to take shelter in safe places.

The Saudi-led military coalition has claimed it destroyed in mid-air a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis. It remains unclear whether the sound of the explosions was linked to that missile.

The Iran-backed Houthi group has been targeting Saudi airports and oil facilities since a long ceasefire collapsed this summer.