Air India and Air India Express will not fly to Riyadh or Dammam until 7 November. Services to Jeddah stay suspended until 31 October, the airline said in a post on X on 24 October1. IndiGo has cancelled flights to Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah until 31 October1, 4. Akasa Air has taken the longest view, suspending Riyadh until 30 November and Jeddah until 10 November2.
The three carriers moved after attacks on Saudi infrastructure, including a strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on 21 October2, 4. Saudi authorities said two people were killed, including an Indian national, and eight were injured4. The General Authority of Civil Aviation said airport operations had resumed and air traffic had returned to normal4.
Yemen's Houthis have carried out a series of attacks on Saudi infrastructure. Transport Topics reported that drone strikes shut the kingdom's most important pipeline for several days in September. It said the 21 October attacks on Aramco's Shaybah oil field and Dammam airport each killed two people, according to Saudi authorities5. Drones also struck Shaybah and Dammam airport, and Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said production was not impacted, ING wrote in a commodities note6.
The space that leaves with a passenger flight
On these routes the cargo rides in the belly hold, the space under the cabin floor of a passenger aircraft. When the flight is cancelled, that space goes with it. The mechanism is familiar from other lanes: IAG Cargo doubled its Gatwick to Bangkok frequencies this winter, which The Loadstar said broadened "forwarders' bellyhold options on Asian lanes"7.
None of the three advisories gives weekly frequencies, aircraft types or cargo tonnes, so the size of the cut has to be read from schedules. Air India's notice covers confirmed bookings issued on or before 24 October, which can be rebooked flexibly or refunded1. Akasa offers full refunds within seven days or free rescheduling2.
Dammam is not a minor stop. King Fahd International serves the whole Eastern Province, 37 airlines fly from it to 43 destinations, and more than 10 million passengers use it a year8.
What the notices do not say
The notices suspend flights, not the airport. GACA said traffic at Dammam had returned to normal4. None of the airline statements mentions freighter aircraft, and none says whether foreign carriers are still serving the four cities1, 2, 4.
That leaves two open questions for buyers. First, whether all-cargo services and combination carriers are still lifting freight into Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Second, whether the Gulf hubs, Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Muscat, can absorb cargo pushed off Indian carriers' direct flights. Neither question can be answered from the advisories. Both should be put to a forwarder in writing before a booking is confirmed.
Hub routings add a handling leg and transit days, and the regional network is already stretched. The Journal of Commerce reported longer berthing delays at the UAE ports of Fujairah and Khor Fakkan. It also reported strained feeder capacity on the India to Middle East trade after attacks in the Strait of Hormuz9.
The price backdrop
Global air freight rates entered this disruption at peak-season levels. TAC Index's Baltic Air Freight Index rose 4.7% in the week to 19 October and was 26.4% higher than a year earlier, above the best weeks of the last two peak seasons3. TAC said jet fuel, up 113.7% year on year to 16 October on IATA's monitor, would "put a hard floor under rates at which airlines will carry cargo"3.
Freightos Air Index data show ex-China rates rose 19% to $6.88/kg to the US and 8% to $3.87/kg to Europe in the week to 21 October. The global benchmark was 30% higher than a year earlier10. Airlines are also adding fuel-linked charges: Air Canada Cargo raised its surcharge from 26 October, citing Middle East unrest and rising fuel prices11.
Demand is outrunning supply. IATA reported global cargo demand up 4.4% year on year in August while capacity fell 0.1%11.
No public index publishes an India to Saudi lane rate. TAC and Freightos publish China, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London and transatlantic benchmarks3, 10. The Gulf lane price therefore comes from forwarder quotes, set against the global backdrop above.
What Indian exporters have at stake
Indo-Saudi trade was $41.88 billion in the 2024-25 financial year, with Indian exports of $11.76 billion12. India's main exports to the kingdom include basmati rice, textiles and garments, and machinery12. Shipments to West Asia as a whole were $5.01 billion in August, up from $4.2 billion in April but below $6.48 billion in January13.
The suspension lands at the start of the peak export quarter. Air India is also cutting Delhi to Copenhagen and Vienna flights and trimming other European frequencies, with the continued closure of Pakistan airspace raising its costs14. An exporter who ships to both Saudi Arabia and Europe faces a thinner belly market on both lanes.
What to do with November shipments
Ask for written transit times, not estimates, for each hub routing. Perishables and cold-chain pharma lose the most from an extra handling leg.
Read the Incoterm on every open order. Under CIF or CFR the seller books and pays for freight, so the rerouting cost lands on the seller. Under FOB the buyer usually arranges carriage and carries the extra cost.
Confirm that cargo insurance still covers the new routing, and check war and terrorism exclusions before the cargo moves.
Plan to the longest date on the board. Riyadh and Dammam on Air India are out until 7 November, but Akasa's Riyadh suspension runs to 30 November1, 2.
Split critical shipments across two hubs or two carriers rather than concentrating them on one reroute.