Saudia drops newly-launched Dammam to London Heathrow flights this summer
March 22, 2026
Saudia has filed changes to its schedules this week that will see the removal of the Dammam to London Heathrow route from its network as of mid-April 2026. The carrier has not publicly confirmed this information, however the change has already been reflected in its booking engines. The suspension is seemingly also valid for the upcoming winter season, with no flights currently listed.
The Dammam to London Heathrow route returned to the Saudia network in November 2025. It marks the carrier’s third route to London Heathrow on offer this winter, alongside double-daily flights each from Jeddah and Riyadh.
The airline will not be increasing service to either of its other two destinations, so it is not immediately clear where the capacity will go. More importantly perhaps, it is required to use its London Heathrow slots if it does not want to lose them. According to the most recent slot coordination reports, the carrier has listed three weekly movements for its Dammam route.
Saudia removes Dammam-London flights from schedules
Saudia’s final flight on the Dammam to London Heathrow route will be on 17 April (from England). All three-weekly services through the end of October have been removed from schedules, the carrier filed to aviation analytics firm Cirium this week. Dammam is not a long-haul base for the airline. However, it is worth noting that it is maintaining its only other long-haul route from Dammam, to Beijing Capital twice per week, onboard a Boeing 787.
The reason for the route suspension is not immediately clear, though it could relate to the conflict in the Gulf given the short-notice nature of this decision. Lower demand for travel to and from the region might make a three-weekly operation less viable. This is especially true if loads on the route are already fragile.
Analysing information from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, it seems the aircraft were only around half full during its first two months of operation. Over the roughly 9,000 seats the carrier offered in the last two months of 2025, 4,400 passengers travelled to and from Dammam and London Heathrow.
Unsurprisingly, routes need time to mature, so the figures are not exceptionally surprising. However, the performance – at least according to load factors – has not fully improved. In January this year, it offered just under 5,400 seats roundtrip and transported just 2,000 passengers. However, this says very little about the economics of the route, particularly given how high-yielding it is.
It is not likely that the route was suspended due to airspace restrictions. According to information from FlightRadar24, the carrier’s London Heathrow to Dammam route has always operated over Egyptian airspace, and has not needed to be diverted as a result of airspace closures.
Dammam is currently being used by Gulf Air as its temporary hub
Dammam has been used by other airlines as a through-point as the Gulf airlines grapple with airspace closures. Bahrain’s Gulf Air, for example, is using the Saudi Arabian city as its temporary hub, transporting passengers by road to the airport from Bahrain.
The carrier most recently added flights to Cairo, Casablanca and Chennai to its interim network, complementing existing service to global gateways. This includes the likes of London Heathrow, Mumbai, Bangkok, Frankfurt, Manila, Paris and Nairobi. The carrier has announced that its Saudi-based operation will be maintained until 28 March.
Cirium data shows that the carrier is using a mix of Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321neo equipment for its Dammam-originating flights.
Featured image: Christian Palent | stock.adobe.com
