Skift
• Deepthi Nair
Cancellations tied to Houthi attacks affected 4,071 departures from Riyadh between Oct. 8 and 25, or 86% of scheduled departures, while foreign airlines continued suspending service. Riyadh Air temporarily shifted part of its operation to Al Qassim, about 250 miles north, and offered passengers a bus transfer from the capital.
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The chief executive of Gia Binh International Airport describes the planned airport as a major infrastructure project and a cornerstone of Vietnam’s ambitions to strengthen global connectivity. The available account provides no project timeline, capacity or investment figures.
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Japan Airlines has begun operating TLD Robotics’ driverless EZTow tractors at Fukuoka Airport, extending airside autonomous towing to a third airport in its network. The vehicles move cargo containers on a 1.7-kilometer restricted-area route, as JAL turns to automation amid ground-handling labor shortages and a shrinking working-age population.
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Cancellations tied to Houthi attacks affected 4,071 departures from Riyadh between Oct. 8 and 25, or 86% of scheduled departures, while foreign airlines continued suspending service. Riyadh Air temporarily shifted part of its operation to Al Qassim, about 250 miles north, and offered passengers a bus transfer from the capital.
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IndiGo and Air India Express will move selected international services from Mumbai’s existing airport to Navi Mumbai International Airport in a phased transition. IndiGo plans to start in February 2027, gradually shifting 12 daily departures and expanding service to 12 destinations; the changes coincide with redevelopment plans at Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1.
A Ryanair flight from Alicante to Newquay, planned to take about two hours, became a nine-hour journey after 71 mph gusts associated with Storm Austen battered southwest England. The disruption left passengers on a flight to nowhere, underscoring how severe weather can derail regional airport operations and airline schedules.
Riyadh Air is temporarily relocating its operational base from Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport to Al Qassim’s Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz International Airport. From Oct. 25, the airline is set to operate six routes linking Al Qassim with Cairo, Dhaka, Jeddah, London Heathrow, Lahore and Islamabad.
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King Khalid International Airport resumed domestic and international flights Sunday after a closure of about two weeks following Houthi attacks. The reopening came hours before the Iran-aligned group renewed its warning that the airport was a “military target”; passengers were urged to check flight status with airlines.
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Riyadh Air is moving some Boeing 787-9 services about 400 km northwest to Al Qassim, with passengers offered a complimentary 4.5-hour bus ride from Riyadh. Air India, Air India Express and Akasa Air have suspended or extended suspensions on Saudi routes, with Air India’s pauses covering Riyadh and Dammam through Nov. 7 and Jeddah through Oct. 31, 2026.
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