Gulf conflict: Virgin Atlantic pulls the plug on Riyadh & Singapore Airlines delays Saudi Arabian return
April 5, 2026
Virgin Atlantic has confirmed that it will be suspending its Riyadh route after barely a year of operation as it redirects capacity to more stable markets in light of the current West Asian conflict. Similarly, Singapore Airlines has postponed the launch of its long-awaited Riyadh route that was meant to launch in June. Instead, it now plans to make its return to the Saudi Arabian market in September.
The current conflict in the Gulf has had a major impact on short-term traffic flows, encouraging European and Australasian carriers to provide additional capacity as traditional transit routes via Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi remain closed. African carriers have also doubled-down on temporary expansion, including Air Seychelles with its Rome and Paris flights.
Virgin Atlantic’s suspension points to possible longer-term consequences of the current West Asian conflict.
Virgin Atlantic suspends Riyadh route indefinitely
Virgin Atlantic will be ending service to Riyadh with the last flight on 7 April 2026. The suspension is long-term, with aviation analytics firm Cirium showing that the carrier removed all Riyadh flights through the end of winter season in early-2027. The route was launched in April 2025, bolstering its codeshare agreement with SkyTeam partner Saudia – which also flies to London, so there are Virgin Atlantic-affiliated alternatives.
Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic, Dave Greer, said: “We have loved flying to Riyadh and are very sorry for the disappointment this change will cause. We know this route has been important to many of our customers, and we’re truly grateful for their support.”
Instead, the carrier is expanding elsewhere.
“As we look ahead to the summer season, we know many customers are actively planning their travel,” Greer continued. “We’re pleased to be offering increased flying to our three largest markets – the USA, Caribbean and India – to help meet this demand.”
Frequencies to Bangalore will increase from daily to 13x weekly flights. Montego Bay in Jamaica will rise from 4x weekly to daily this summer and Las Vegas will rise from daily to 10x weekly.
It highlighted that customers travelling to Riyadh will be contacted with their options which could include rebooking on a different airline (likely Saudia) or requesting a refund.
Singapore Airlines delays planned Riyadh launch
Singapore Airlines announced earlier this year that it would resume flying to Riyadh on 2 June 2026. It was meant to launch four-weekly services on an Airbus A350-900 featuring 40 business class seats and 263 in economy.
At the time, Singapore Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Lee Lik Hsin said that the Riyadh route “comes amid its thriving business environment and ambitious development, which make it one of the Middle East’s most dynamic cities.”
“Beyond a new destination, this service will potentially allow us to work with our partners to offer our customers additional travel options across the region,” he continued.
An agreement was also signed between the Saudi Air Connectivity Program and the airline to support the launch of the new route.
This is the latest change in a string of flight postponements and frequency adjustments. Disruption in the Gulf has had a profound impact on travellers moving between Europe and Australasia, and to a lesser extent Africa as well. Many airlines have responded with additional short-term capacity as Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways fly very limited schedules.
Featured image: Christian Palent | stock.adobe.com
