Business trips to Saudi Arabia have effectively stopped. Travel industry executives told Skift that almost all corporate travel to the kingdom is on hold, with attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militia continuing and most airlines no longer flying in and out of the country.
The practical effect on the ground is striking. Rather than waiting for flights that may not come, stranded visitors are leaving Saudi Arabia overland. One UAE-based agency, Wise Fox Tourism, described two common exit routes: driving from Riyadh to Bahrain and flying onward from there, or taking the four-hour road trip from the capital to Dammam, then covering the roughly seven-hour drive into the UAE. For many, the choice is simply the fastest way back, not the most comfortable.
Religious travellers are adjusting too. Umrah pilgrims — who travel to Makkah and Madinah year-round from across the Muslim world — are largely skipping flights altogether and going by road instead, according to the same agency. Jeddah airport, the usual gateway for pilgrims and a major hub for international arrivals, is reported to be fully restricted, which is pushing even more traffic onto regional land borders.
For anyone with a trip to Saudi Arabia in the diary — whether business, Umrah or tourism tied to the country's fast-growing leisure push — the message from the trade is blunt: nothing new is being initiated. Bookings are paused, flights are unreliable, and even people already in the kingdom are treating road trips through Bahrain or the UAE as the sensible way home. Anyone who does have to travel should build in serious buffer time and check which airports, if any, are operating before committing to an itinerary.
There is no indication yet of when normal air service will resume, so travellers should watch official guidance from their airline and foreign office rather than rebooking on hope. For now, Saudi Arabia's much-hyped opening to international visitors is on hold in practice, with the Gulf's well-worn highway network doing the work its airports no longer can.
