Thick smoke and flames rose from a site close to King Khalid International Airport on Saturday morning.
The blaze appeared hours after Yemen’s Houthi movement pledged revenge against Saudi Arabia.
Residents of the capital received an air-raid warning shortly before 3 a.m. local time.
The message was blunt: the area was under a hostile aerial threat.
Explosions were heard across Riyadh, including in the Olaya district.
Civil defence issued an all-clear about half an hour later. No casualties from the airport fire were immediately confirmed.
Airport Flights Delayed After Fuel Depot Fire
The fire was tied to a fuel storage depot beside the airport.
Flight operations ran into serious trouble through the morning.
More than two hundred flights were delayed as crews assessed the situation.
Saudi officials had not, by mid-morning, confirmed the source of the threat or the fire.
These were the first such alerts in the capital since fighting with Houthi forces intensified last week.
Regional Fighting Spreads Into Energy And Travel
The Houthis, backed by Iran, have expanded along Yemen’s southern coast and seized islands at the mouth of the Red Sea.
They declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in July, adding pressure to already strained energy routes.
Riyadh has answered with a heavy air campaign. The group says hundreds of strikes have hit its positions.
Last week, drones damaged Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline. Repairs are expected to take weeks.
The state oil company has told European customers they will receive no crude in October.
That notice is said to cover all European buyers.
On Friday the UN Security Council condemned continued Houthi attacks on Saudi civilian and energy sites.
It said those attacks have injured civilians, including women and children.
Saturday’s fire near the airport now sits inside a widening confrontation that is already rattling oil markets and air travel.