Saudi Arabia’s Aviation Ambitions Meet a Week of Terror

Photo Credit: A file image of a Saudia Boeing 777 jet. Vincenzo Pace Saudi Arabia has spent years and billions of dollars positioning itself as a new aviation and tourism powerhouse. Over the past seven days, that ambition has met a troubling new reality. A sustained campaign of deadly attacks on the kingdom’s airports, particularly King Khalid International in Riyadh, has raised questions about the safety of flying in Saudi Arabia, the resilience of its aviation infrastructure, and the implications for its strategic goals. Yemen’s Houthi movement, which admitted it is behind the attacks, has explicitly identified Saudi airports and airspace as targets, warning international airlines and travelers to stay away. For an economy betting heavily on aviation, tourism, and international connectivity, it is difficult to imagine a more damaging scenario. A Week of Escalating Violence The underlying conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthis goes back years, but this latest wave of attacks began on October 5,