ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) clarified this week that flights from the country to Saudi Arabia are continuing “as usual,” hours after the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced it was temporarily suspending operations to Riyadh following the recent Houthi attacks on Saudi airports.

The PIA, one of Pakistan’s most prominent airlines, announced on Friday that it was suspending flight operations to Saudi Arabia’s capital in view of the “situation in the Middle East.” The development took place after a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi aviation facilities this week, including one targeting the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

The intensifying attacks forced other international carriers to also suspend flights to the Saudi capital.

“Flight operations to Saudi Arabia are continuing as usual,” the PAA said in a statement on Friday. “PIA has temporarily suspended flights only to Riyadh. Speculations circulating on social media are not true.”

The PIA, Pakistan’s former national carrier that was sold to a private business group in December last year, had continued operating flights to Saudi Arabia even after suspending services to several other Gulf countries at the start of the US-Iran war in February.

The airline did not specify in its statement on Friday when its services to Riyadh would resume or whether passengers would be offered alternative travel arrangements.

Saudi Arabia is an important destination for thousands of Pakistani nationals. The Kingdom is not only home to over 2 million Pakistani expatriates, but is also frequently visited by Pakistani pilgrims for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages at various times of the year.

The Houthi attacks on Saudi aviation facilities forced Germany’s Lufthansa Group to announce on Thursday that its airlines would suspend Riyadh flights through Oct. 16, while Air India announced cancelations of services to and from the Saudi capital through Oct. 10.

Saudi Arabian carrier Saudia accounted for 169 canceled departures from Riyadh, according to aviation data firm Cirium.

Pakistan has strongly condemned Houthi attacks against the Kingdom and described them as a “grave threat” to regional peace.