Most airports in the Gulf are closed, except Riyadh airport is open

Rich people started heading to Western countries after reaching Riyadh, and more flights to the Gulf from Pakistan were canceled

Dawn correspondents, Dawn TV reports

Riyadh’s King Fahd Airport: Due to increasing tensions in the Middle East, the Saudi capital, Riyadh, has become an important hub for wealthy individuals and high-ranking officials seeking to evacuate from Gulf countries. The regional situation has also had an impact on Pakistan, with flight operations severely affected.

According to reports, Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport is among the few major airports in the region that are operating normally, while the airspace in various places, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain, was affected after the recent Iranian missile and drone attacks.

Due to the closure of air routes, many high-ranking officials and people with high assets are reaching Riyadh by land. Some have travelled about 10 hours from Dubai to the Saudi capital to board private or commercial flights out of the region. Private security companies are hiring fleets of SUVs to ferry their clients to Riyadh, and charter flights are being arranged later.

Senior officials of global financial institutions and wealthy individuals in the Gulf for business or leisure are evacuating in a hurry, the report said. The surge in demand has also pushed up costs, with private jet fares from Riyadh to Europe reaching $350,000.

Meanwhile, 106 more flights were cancelled from various airports in Pakistan in the past 24 hours amid the tense situation in the Middle East. Officials said several flights from Karachi to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Sharjah, Kuwait and Bahrain were cancelled.

32 flights to the Middle East were canceled at Karachi Airport, a total of 22 domestic and international flights were canceled at Peshawar Airport, while 22 flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Bahrain were canceled from Lahore Airport.

Similarly, 4 flights from Faisalabad, 2 from Quetta and 4 from Multan were canceled. According to officials, more than 300 flights to the Middle East have been canceled in the last three days, causing difficulties for thousands of passengers.

Although daily life in Riyadh is largely normal and Saudi Arabia has kept its airspace open, the ongoing tensions in the region have severely affected the travel system and business activities.