Targeting Civil Airports: An Attack on People's Lives and Their Connection to the World
When a civilian airport is targeted, the danger extends to a family awaiting the return of a loved one to their homeland, a patient traveling for medical treatment, a student heading toward their future, and an employee fulfilling their duty to serve passengers. Behind every flight lies a life, and behind every departure gate is a story that deserves to continue safely. The attacks on Kuwait International Airport, which targeted its facilities and operational systems, and the aggressions witnessed at the airports of our fraternal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, place us before a humanitarian and professional responsibility that demands a clear stance: we reject the targeting of civilian airports and the endangerment of passengers and staff within them, and we refuse to transform infrastructure that connects peoples to the world into arenas of conflict.
These airports serve a fundamental civilian function; they link Gulf countries to the world, enabling people to work, study, receive medical treatment, and visit their families, as well as facilitating pilgrimages for Umrah and visits to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Through them, the region receives its visitors, exchanges trade and expertise, and supports relief and evacuation operations when necessary. Consequently, attacks on them affect entire communities, and their impact transcends the borders of the state in which they are located.
At Kuwait International Airport, as at airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, passengers and staff of diverse nationalities converge. Their safety is a shared responsibility, and their lives must not become leverage for political pressure or a bargaining chip in conflict calculations. The passenger carrying their luggage to the departure gate deserves a safe environment, and the employee beginning their shift deserves to return to their family unharmed. Protection here is grounded in a clear legal basis. International humanitarian law prohibits directing attacks against civilian objects. Deliberately targeting an airport as a protected civilian object may constitute a war crime if the legal elements of such a crime are met.
From an air traffic management perspective, targeting an airport places the entire safety system under pressure. Protecting passengers and staff, assessing the airworthiness of facilities and systems, rerouting or suspending flights, and providing assistance to travelers are all decisions that require conscious leadership, rapid coordination, and reliable information. In these moments, human safety must take precedence over commercial and operational considerations.
I recognize that the various security and emergency response teams, airport workers, and airline staff deserve our appreciation for the responsibilities they shoulder under dangerous conditions. However, response efficiency does not mitigate the responsibility of the attacker, nor does it make repeated attacks acceptable. Protecting civil aviation requires consistent condemnation, documentation of facts, independent investigations, and accountability based on law and evidence.
Our solidarity with our beloved state of Kuwait and our sister Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in protecting their civilian airports stems from respect for their sovereignty and our conviction that passenger security is a right that must be upheld everywhere. The same position must remain firm regarding any attack on a civilian airport, regardless of the perpetrator’s identity or the nationality of those affected. Airports were established to bridge distances and connect peoples to the world. It is our duty to preserve this mission and to reject any attack that turns a journey of hope into fear, or severs a person’s path to their family, medical care, or future. Let our airports remain gates to life and connection, and let human safety remain above all calculations.
