Photo: Wikimedia Commons
For many Riyadh families, this week brought back a familiar routine. Plans are made a day at a time, and the working day bends around whatever the last alert said.
The city has kept up an image of business as usual for months. That image is getting harder to hold.
Two days, two alerts
Air defenses intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles over Riyadh on Sunday morning, and debris damaged Aramco's tower in the King Abdullah Financial District. On Monday, civil defense sent a midday alert and lifted it within minutes, telling residents not to gather or film.
Missile alerts have been ringing several times a week, sometimes several times a night, Semafor reported last week.
Offices on pause
KAFD, home to the stock exchange, PIF and many of the regional headquarters Riyadh worked hard to attract, has been largely deserted. Office towers above 10 floors remain closed, Semafor reported.
Some expats who asked to work from abroad were told there was no need to leave. The message: keep calm and carry on.
A city harder to reach
At least 25 airlines have suspended or cut Saudi services. British Airways has paused Riyadh flights until January 11, ITA Airways until January 7, and Cathay Pacific until January 31, according to The National. Flydubai, Etihad, Flynas and Riyadh Air all cancelled Riyadh flights on Monday.
Some consultants are now driving in from Bahrain and Oman to keep face time with Saudi clients, Bloomberg reported.
Washington ordered non-essential US embassy staff and their families to leave the kingdom last month.
Classes back on screens
Schools, which reopened only on Sunday, have switched back to remote learning. It's the third move online this school year. For working parents, every switch means rearranging the day around children at home, often at a day's notice.
The money question
Riyadh spent years narrowing the salary premium expats demanded to live there instead of Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Doha. Each week of closed towers and cancelled flights tests that progress, and the regional headquarters push built on it.
There's an upside too. The disruption may be pushing more staff of those regional headquarters to live in Riyadh rather than commute from Dubai, which is what the policy wanted all along.
How people are coping
Most residents are taking it in their stride. "We trust the Kingdom's judgment when it comes to situations like this," one Riyadh father told Arab News. Saudis are coping with humor, as they have through past conflicts.
What to watch
Whether office towers reopen and airlines restore Riyadh routes before year-end. For families, the question is no longer only when the attacks stop, but how long this suspended version of life lasts.
