Riyadh Air to launch flights to London Heathrow on 26 October, but not everyone can fly
October 9, 2025
Riyadh Air is set to begin operations and take its place as the second flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, alongside Saudia. The first flights are now expected to commence on October 26, 2025, with flights to London Heathrow.
Riyadh Air announces inaugural flights to London
On 8th October, Riyadh Air announced that its first flights will commence daily flights to London Heathrow from its main base in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. Riyadh Air secured the slot from British Airways in July.
In the same announcement, Riyadh Air unveiled Sfeer (meaning Ambassador in Arabic), its loyalty offering, which will provide exclusive benefits to early Founding Members. ‘The Founders’ will receive priority access to bookings on future flights and enjoy more benefits yet to be announced.
The first flight will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner called “Jamila.” The flight will depart Riyadh at 03:15 (local time), arriving at Heathrow at 07:30, with the return flight leaving Heathrow at 09:30 before arriving back at Riyadh at 19:05.
Our “Pathway to Perfect” in a nutshell 🛫
— Riyadh Air (@RiyadhAir) October 8, 2025
Soon after these flights, Riyadh will start flights to Dubai. More routes are expected to be announced in the next few weeks for the winter of 2025 and the summer of 2026.
Riyadh Air’s emerging fleet
Riyadh Air has ordered a mixed fleet made up of Boeing and Airbus widebody aircraft and Airbus narrowbodies. It has placed a firm order for 60 Airbus A321neo aircraft and a firm order for 25 Airbus A350-1000s with options for another 25.
It has also ordered up to 72 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, split between 39 firm orders with options for another 33.
The only aircraft the fledgling airline has at the moment is the Boeing 787-9 “Jamila” which has been leased from Oman Air. That aircraft is not one of the new builds Riyadh has ordered.
Jamila is used as a technical spare and training aircraft, but given that Heathrow slots are granted on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis, the airline must fly this winter season to retain the position for next winter.
The early flights are not available for booking and will only be open to employees and families of the airline and its owner, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). Ticket sales to the public will open once Riyadh Air takes delivery of its first two 787-9s from Boeing later this year.
Unlike other airlines in the Middle East, Riyadh Air has not ordered the upcoming Boeing 777X. In all, the airline has a total of 182 aircraft on order, including options.
Planned Riyadh Air scaling up
Riyadh Air plans to serve over 100 destinations around the world by 2030. However, it will take time to take delivery of its new aircraft and scale up with the first flights being offered by the Dreamliners it will soon be receiving.
In the meantime, Riyadh Air will lean heavily on its agreements with airlines like Delta, China Eastern, Saudia, Air France-KLM, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and others.
In the early stages, it will focus on ‘thick routes’ such as those between Riyadh and Singapore and rely on other airlines to connect passengers from there. Around 80% of the world’s population is within an eight-hour flight of Riyadh.
Our first 787 Dreamliner is painted, polished, and ready for testing at @BoeingAirplanes ✈
— Riyadh Air (@RiyadhAir) September 18, 2025
Bringing us one step closer to the new travel era. pic.twitter.com/UtJ5J52WGo
It plans to add around two destinations every month during its scale-up period and eventually fly as far as Australia and New Zealand. Executive Traveller reported the CEO as saying that eventually the airline could serve as many as five cities in Australia and three in New Zealand. For reference, Emirates serves five cities in Australia and two in New Zealand.
