Himalaya Airlines has pulled its Kathmandu–Dammam service, one of the main air links between Nepal and Saudi Arabia, following missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi forces on airports inside Saudi Arabia. The attacks have proved deadly, and the Nepali carrier moved quickly to cancel the route as a safety precaution.
The suspension matters because the corridor is a busy one. Hundreds of thousands of Nepali nationals live and work in Saudi Arabia, and Dammam in the country's Eastern Province is one of the kingdom's main entry points for migrant workers. For them, the route is not a holiday flight but a lifeline — the means of getting to jobs, returning home for family visits and travelling for emergencies. Losing it, even temporarily, means longer itineraries through Gulf hubs such as Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Kuwait City, often at higher fares and with extra transit time.
The wider context is the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where Houthi forces have repeatedly targeted Saudi territory, including civilian aviation infrastructure. When airports themselves come under missile fire, airlines have little choice but to reassess operations. Nepal's flag-carrier and other international airlines flying into the kingdom watch these security situations closely, and route suspensions tend to stay in place until the threat level drops.
If you hold a ticket on the affected route, the practical first step is to contact Himalaya Airlines or your booking agent about rebooking or a refund, and to check whether alternative carriers are still flying the Kathmandu–Riyadh or Kathmandu–Jeddah routes, which serve different Saudi cities. Travel insurance that covers disruption from security events is worth considering for any booking into the region right now. Transit through major Gulf hubs currently remains the most realistic fallback for Nepali travellers bound for the Eastern Province.
For holiday travellers, the story is a reminder that Gulf route maps can change at short notice when regional security deteriorates. If Saudi Arabia or onward connections through the Gulf are on your plans, build flexibility into bookings, monitor airline advisories, and expect schedule changes to be announced with little warning. The route cancellation is a commercial decision driven entirely by safety — a sign of how quickly a seemingly routine international flight can become unworkable when the destination's own airports are targeted.
Reported by Nepali Times.
