4 Indians Still in ICU as Riyadh Flight Bans Extended to Oct 17

Here’s what caught my eye: Indian airlines have now pushed their Saudi flight suspensions all the way to 17 October, nearly a full week after the attack on Riyadh airport. That’s a long time for flights to stay grounded, and it tells you how serious the situation still is on the ground.

Here is what I found out.

What happened to the Indians caught up in this

The embassy’s update on Tuesday gave the clearest picture yet of how Indian nationals have been affected since the attack on Riyadh airport on 10 October. Eight people are still being treated in hospital, four of them in intensive care. Three others have recovered enough to be discharged.

One Indian national, Mohammed Yousef Ali, died in the attack. His funeral was held in Riyadh on 12 October, in line with his family’s wishes, and the Indian Ambassador along with embassy officials attended. The embassy said its staff are continuing to visit hospitals and stay in touch with the families of those affected, offering whatever help they can.

Why flights are still grounded

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh remains fully suspended on GACA’s orders. That’s the main reason Indian carriers have had to keep extending their pause rather than resuming on schedule.

As things stand, Air India and Air India Express have suspended flights to and from Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah until 17 October. Akasa Air has done the same for Riyadh and Jeddah. IndiGo has gone furthest, halting flights to Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and Medina until the same date.

Saudia, the national carrier, is still flying scheduled services from Dammam, Jeddah and Medina. Flynas is also running its Dammam-Lucknow route as planned. So it isn’t a total shutdown of Saudi aviation, just a cautious pullback by the Indian carriers while Riyadh stays closed.

What this means if you’re trying to get in or out

The embassy has told Indian nationals to check directly with their airline before heading to the airport, since schedules are shifting day by day. Anyone facing a genuine emergency who needs to leave Saudi Arabia has been told they could look at flights out of Qatar or Bahrain instead, as long as they already hold the visas needed to transit through those countries.

This is worth knowing if you’re in Kuwait too. Kuwait Airways has already cancelled its Riyadh flights, and if you’ve got family or colleagues trying to move between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia right now, routing through a different Gulf hub may genuinely be quicker than waiting for Riyadh to reopen.

Overstay fines waived, but only for some

Saudi authorities have confirmed to the embassy that Indian nationals who entered on visit, tourist, Umrah or business visas, and ended up overstaying simply because there were no flights available, won’t be fined for it. That’s a sensible move given how many people have been stuck through no fault of their own.

If your visa has already expired, though, the advice is still to leave as soon as a flight becomes available rather than wait it out.

<p>[EDITOR NOTE: add any personal experience of rebooking Gulf flights during this disruption, or of helping a relative stranded in Saudi Arabia]</p>

Safety advice from the embassy

The embassy has asked Indian nationals across Saudi Arabia to stay calm, stay indoors if there’s any aerial attack, and follow instructions from local authorities through official channels only. It has also asked people not to circulate or repost videos or news about the ongoing situation, which is good advice generally when things are still unfolding.

Day-to-day consular work hasn’t stopped. The Embassy of India in Riyadh, the Consulate in Jeddah, and their VFS-run passport and attestation services are all operating normally.

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