Saudia

Is Saudia safe?

Yes, though its record is patchier than that of the other big Gulf carriers. Saudia has not had a fatal crash since 1996, and its regulator holds FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary status. Against that, the Aviation Safety Network lists eight aircraft written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary in Saudia service since 2008, and in October 2026 Houthi missile and drone strikes hit two airports on its network, Abha and Riyadh. We score it 75, below Emirates and Qatar Airways and above flydubai.

Saudia's crash history

Saudia's two deadly crashes are both decades old. On 19 August 1980, a fire broke out in the aft cargo hold of SV163, a Lockheed TriStar, after take-off from Riyadh. The crew turned back and landed, but all 301 people on board died before they could be evacuated. On 12 November 1996, SV763, a Boeing 747 climbing out of Delhi, collided with a Kazakhstan Airlines Il-76 near Charkhi Dadri; all 312 on the Saudia jet were killed.

Since then, one passenger died in 2005 during an evacuation at Colombo after an anonymous bomb threat, which counts as unlawful interference rather than a crash.

Eight write-offs since 2008

The weaker part of the record is the number of aircraft lost in non-fatal accidents. Since 2008, the ASN database lists:

• 2008, Dhaka: a 747 leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic, written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary after a fire during the landing roll.
• 2009, Riyadh: an MD-90 on a positioning flight ran off the runway.
• 2010, Cairo: a 747 leased from Phuket Airlines was badly damaged by an uncontained engine failure on take-off.
• 2011, Madinah: a Saudia 747-400 with 277 people on board ran off a taxiway after landing.
• 2012, Jeddah: an A300 leased from Onur Air landed with its nose gear up.
• 2013, Abuja: a 747 freighter leased from Veteran Airline ran off the runway.
• 2018, Jeddah: flight SV3818, an A330 leased from Onur Air with 152 people on board, landed with its nose gear up.
• 2023, Khartoum: an A330 waiting to operate SV458 caught fire on the apron when fighting broke out in Sudan.

No one died in any of them. Five involved aircraft leased from other airlines, which Saudia uses to add capacity in peak seasons, and the Khartoum loss was caused by war. Still, it is more than we see at the other Gulf carriers, and it is why the accident record scores 76.

Recent incidents

The most serious recent event was on 11 July 2024. SV792, an A330 from Riyadh, had landed at Peshawar when the tower saw smoke from the left main landing gear. The crew could not apply the brakes, and the aircraft rolled forward and stopped on the unpaved strip before passengers left by the slides. The BEA notice of Pakistan's investigation lists substantial damage and 26 minor injuries.

How modern is the fleet?

Saudia flies about 149 aircraft and expects 12 deliveries by the end of 2026, which would take it to 161, CAPA reported in June. Long-haul flights use Boeing 787s, 777-300ERs and A330s, and the short-haul fleet is A320-family jets, with more A321neos among the 2026 deliveries. The 777-300ERs are now in their second decade. The low-cost sister airline flyadeal holds its own certificate and is not covered here.

Oversight and the 2026 conflict

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) holds Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary in the FAA's assessment, no Saudi airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary, and Saudia is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary as an IATA member.

The operating environment is the weakest factor. During the Iran war, EASA said Iranian attacks had mainly hit eastern Saudi Arabia. On 13 July 2026, a Houthi missile and drone attack closed Abha airport until 16 July. On 30 September, EASA told European airlines not to fly at any height over part of the Jeddah flight region and to take care in the rest, citing attacks that reached the Riyadh, Tabuk and Yanbu areas and the risk of air defences misidentifying civil aircraft.

Then the attacks reached the airports themselves. According to GACA, strikes on Abha on 6 October and on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudia's second hub, on 7 October 2026 killed three people and injured 36. On 9 October EASA revised its bulletin: it changed the area to avoid and said the attacks now focus more on aviation infrastructure, which raises the risk to aircraft on the ground and during take-off and landing. The UK advises against all but essential travel to Riyadh and Aseer provinces. These were attacks on airports, not on Saudia aircraft, so they do not count in the accident record; they are why the environment scores 50, the same as flynas, which uses the same airports. See our Saudi Arabia travel page for the advisories.

Saudia also carries millions of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims through Jeddah and Madinah in short, intense peaks.

Flying Saudia safely

• Check flight status on the day. Missile alerts can stop departures for hours, Abha has closed for days at a time, and in October 2026 Abha and Riyadh airports were hit. Confirm your flight before you leave for the airport.
• Look at the aircraft and operator in your booking, especially in Hajj season, when some flights use aircraft leased from other airlines.
• Leave your cabin bags in an evacuation. Slides were used at Peshawar in 2024; every second counts.

How we scored it

A modern widebody fleet (82) and FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary oversight with IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary (84) help. Eight write-offsHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary since 2008 (accident record 76), the Peshawar gear fire (incidents 70) and the 2026 strikes on Saudi airports (environment 50) pull the score to 75.