Flight disruptions after Houthi attack in Saudi Arabia, Etihad cancels Abu Dhabi flight

Tensions have soared in West Asia yet again after Houthi attack on the Saudi capital Riyadh, prompting travel advisory and disrupting air travel in the region. Flight operations to and from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh were disrupted on Saturday after smoke was seen near the airport. Late on Saturday night, travel disruption played […]

2 min readSep 20, 2026 09:08 AM IST First published on: Sep 20, 2026 at 09:07 AM IST

Videos show smoke rising from near Riyadh airport. (Screenshot from social media videos)

Tensions have soared in West Asia yet again after Houthi attack on the Saudi capital Riyadh, prompting travel advisory and disrupting air travel in the region. Flight operations to and from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh were disrupted on Saturday after smoke was seen near the airport.

Late on Saturday night, travel disruption played out thousands of kilometres away from Riyadh, at Delhi’s international airport. Around 200 passengers who had boarded Etihad Airways flight EY217, bound for Abu Dhabi, found themselves waiting, then deboarding, and finally watching their journey cancelled altogether all because of a technical fault discovered on the aircraft shortly before departure.

Flight EY217 was scheduled to depart Delhi for Abu Dhabi at 9:15 pm. Passengers said around 200 people were taken off the aircraft after the crew announced there was a technical issue. They waited for a few hours before the airline confirmed the flight was cancelled altogether, leaving many to look for other ways to complete their journey.

According to Flightradar24.com, the flight was due to be operated using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The exact nature of the technical fault has not been confirmed.

Air travel across the Gulf hit trouble this weekend, for two very different reasons. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport was thrown into chaos after being hit by Houthi missiles and drones, with residents reporting smoke and flames near the site. Flights in and out were delayed and cancelled, and the disruption spread as far as Dubai and Sharjah. Saudi-led coalition forces say they shot down one of the missiles before it could hit the capital.

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