Earlier, I wrote about how Delta plans to announce a return to Hong Kong in the coming weeks, with a Los Angeles (LAX) to Hong Kong (HKG) flight expected to launch in 2026. Here’s another interesting route update…
In this post:
Delta plans to fly to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
JonNYC has the scoop that Delta plans to announce a nonstop flight between Atlanta (ATL) and Riyadh (RUH) in late 2025. We don’t yet know when the 7,283-mile route will launch, or what the frequencies and schedule will look like, but it seems that plans for the announcement are firm.
There’s also mention of the Atlanta to Tel Aviv (TLV) route resuming, but I think that’s a bit less interesting, as that’s a route resumption, and it’s also dependent on the situation in Israel stabilizing, which I wouldn’t consider to be a given.
Also going to announce ATL-RUH at the end of the year and ATL-TLV coming back (barring any more complications there)
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) July 12, 2025
We’ve known that Delta plans to fly to Riyadh, though until now, we had no sense of when it would be announced, and which exact route would be operated (though I think many of us could’ve guessed Atlanta). Roughly a year ago, Delta and Riyadh Air announced plans to launch a partnership.
Riyadh Air is Saudi Arabia’s ambitious new airline startup, which is expected to launch operations in late 2025. It’s logical enough that Delta would choose to fly out of Atlanta, as I imagine that Riyadh to New York (JFK) will be among Riyadh Air’s first long haul routes, so Delta would want to serve a complementary market, by routing people via its Atlanta mega-hub.
I get the long term vision, but I’m a little confused
Riyadh Air’s goals are clear — the airline is funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, and the intent is to increase connectivity to and from Riyadh, and to boost tourism, as part of the country’s long term vision. The argument is that Riyadh has been underserved for years, given the size of the population.
We’re seeing Riyadh Air establish partnerships with other airlines ahead of launch. In addition to Delta, Riyadh Air is also partnering with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic, so it’s pretty clear the “ecosystem” in which the airline is focusing.
The thing is, if Delta launches this route in 2026, how exactly will this make sense, given the carrier’s cost structure?
- Is Saudi Arabia providing significant incentives to airlines that launch service there? I can’t imagine that they aren’t, given the amount of new service we’re seeing all at once
- It will likely be a few years before Riyadh Air has a significant connecting network beyond Riyadh, given that an airline can’t become massive overnight
- Unlike American and United, Delta is really weak in the Middle East, and doesn’t otherwise have a “preferred” partner, meaning many points in the Middle East, Africa, and India, are without good connecting opportunities
- If Riyadh has actually been so underserved for a long time, why hasn’t Delta flown to Riyadh prior to this point?
I get the long term vision, once Riyadh Air matures. I’m just curious how this plays out in the short term, with limited connecting traffic, since this flight won’t exactly have low operating costs.
Bottom line
Delta is expected to announce a new route between Atlanta and Riyadh in late 2025, with the service presumably commencing in 2026. We’ve known that Delta planned to service Riyadh, though didn’t know out of which airport, or when the service would start.
I understand the long term plan for Delta partnering with Riyadh Air, though I’m curious how this works out in the coming years, with not much connecting traffic.
What do you make of Delta launching Atlanta to Riyadh flights?
remember that DL is doing all of this international expansion even while continuing to retire the 767-300ER fleet.
DL is expected to take more new widebodies this year than any other US airline -just as they did in 2024 - but also are expected to retire another 5-7 767s so they are actually doing all of this route announcement with a net growth of about a half dozen widebodies.
DL is expected to take delivery...
remember that DL is doing all of this international expansion even while continuing to retire the 767-300ER fleet.
DL is expected to take more new widebodies this year than any other US airline -just as they did in 2024 - but also are expected to retire another 5-7 767s so they are actually doing all of this route announcement with a net growth of about a half dozen widebodies.
DL is expected to take delivery of the remaining 4 A350-900s in 2026 as part of their latest order for the 359 and also take delivery of the first 4 of 20 A350-1000s.
There is a good chance that the 35Ks will be pushed back until 2027 so that DL can get the same new highest take off weight that QF will get on their 35Ks.
If the 35Ks don't come in 2026 and if DL intends to continue retiring 767s in the fall/winter of 2026/27, there is a pretty good chance that DL has already exercised some of its 20 Airbus widebody options to take more 359s in 2026.
They also are using half or more of their new A321NEO deliveries to retire older 757s and A320s.
What's the Saudi strategy?
Delta is getting paid by Saudi Arabia lots of $$$$
and Australia did the same thing for several routes and, in some cases, UA took the money and DL came behind and took a wad after UA's money ran out
DL operated PIT-CDG until the city /area decided they wanted an LHR flight and DL pulled out.
UA had several incentivized routes coming out of covid.
DL has clearly changed its approach to playing the subsidies game.
and the biggest difference with Riyadh vs....
and Australia did the same thing for several routes and, in some cases, UA took the money and DL came behind and took a wad after UA's money ran out
DL operated PIT-CDG until the city /area decided they wanted an LHR flight and DL pulled out.
UA had several incentivized routes coming out of covid.
DL has clearly changed its approach to playing the subsidies game.
and the biggest difference with Riyadh vs. all the other Middle East carriers is that DL is cozying up early enough to help define the rules and will very likely have a deeper relationship than AA or UA can have with their ME partners.
And.will ATL to Saudi be a dry flight? How will they handle that?
Delta is based in the United States of America. Why would its flights be dry? The only dry carrier serving US airports is SV.
Never underestimate the ability of Western corporations to slavishly comply with the diktats of foreign autocrats in exchange for the opportunity to make a few bucks.
@DenB don't Egyptair fly to New York?
the simple answer is that, at worst, DL would have to only serve alcohol outside of Saudi airspace.
and that rule could change. It is hard to believe Riyadh Air will be dry.
do you know that DL couldn't serve alcohol on the ground at SLC when it took over the hub from Western - and that changed pretty quickly.
Delta had certainly better step up their game if they expect to get into the ME airline game. No way can they compete against Qatar, Emirates, Eitihad or even Saudia which has a decent business class (but still a dry airline).
You will only get the US diplomatic corps which is required to Fly America Act so they will have to take Delta. But, when I have a choice, and I take a flight...
Delta had certainly better step up their game if they expect to get into the ME airline game. No way can they compete against Qatar, Emirates, Eitihad or even Saudia which has a decent business class (but still a dry airline).
You will only get the US diplomatic corps which is required to Fly America Act so they will have to take Delta. But, when I have a choice, and I take a flight from LAX to the Middle East with a Riyadh destination, every 4-5 weeks, I’m not sitting on a Delta flight with that poor level of service when I can be treated incredibly well by FAs who do an incredible job of customer services. You can’t even compare the US flight attendants and the ME flight attendants. They are on an entire different level of service.
Amen to that!
If Delta is expanding more to ME, India and Asia this is a great point.
Additionally they will have to improve their food in Economy and also be stricter on baggage policies.
ryan,
that is just as true if not more so with AA and UA who both serve the Arab Middle East plus India and seem to be content to stay there.
US carriers are "outclassed" in service in a number of parts of the world but manage to hold their own.
US carrier service is not as bad as you make it out to be and isn't bad enough for most people to go out of their way to avoid them esp. if they already fly them on domestic routes
I'm burning my remaining SkyPesos and quitting Delta after the AI and D1 unbundling nonsense. I wouldn't fly them if they went to the moon.
RE Riyadh Air and 'New York to Riyadh likely to be one of the first long haul destinations' I doubt this will be the case.
The CEO of the new airline has previously been quoted as saying that until the fleet is a reasonable size the route network will likely be a couple European destinations alongside a couple short haul flights within the region.
From an interview the CEO gave to executivetraveller,com:
So how...
RE Riyadh Air and 'New York to Riyadh likely to be one of the first long haul destinations' I doubt this will be the case.
The CEO of the new airline has previously been quoted as saying that until the fleet is a reasonable size the route network will likely be a couple European destinations alongside a couple short haul flights within the region.
From an interview the CEO gave to executivetraveller,com:
So how will Riyadh Air’s nascent network take shape?
“We’ll be flying from Riyadh to let’s say ‘European capital A’ and back,” Douglas maps out
“Then the airplane will turn around and do a shorter leg on thick routes within the region – to Jeddah, for example. It will then come back to Riyadh, turn around and then do ‘European city B’, and so on.”
Ben, it might be worth reading more about the “Saudi Arabian Air Connectivity Program”. I believe the flights to Saudi Arabia are largely subsidized by the Kingdom, which explains as to why a lot of carriers like LH, BA, KL are ramping up their frequencies to RUH/JED and suspending flights to BAH/KWI.
For Delta, ATL-RUH is a win-win. ATL has a lot of population from the subcontinent and it was underserved until recently. It’s...
Ben, it might be worth reading more about the “Saudi Arabian Air Connectivity Program”. I believe the flights to Saudi Arabia are largely subsidized by the Kingdom, which explains as to why a lot of carriers like LH, BA, KL are ramping up their frequencies to RUH/JED and suspending flights to BAH/KWI.
For Delta, ATL-RUH is a win-win. ATL has a lot of population from the subcontinent and it was underserved until recently. It’s just a market with minimal competition, allowing them to transfer customers onto SV flights to the Subcontinent/Middle East. Plus, the possibility of subsidized flights kinda makes it a no-brainer. I was thinking the first Delta flights to RUH would be from DTW given the large Arab diaspora but well, it looks like I am wrong.
The Arab population in Detroit tends probably has it’s largest origins from the Levant and North Africa…for whom transiting via Europe would be the preferred option overall. The Yemeni diaspora in that area could go through JED or RUH, of course.
The subcontinent population of Atlanta is not the target market. As any travel analyst worth his salt will know, the Indian market is price sensitive and leans into the cheapest fares/carriers. Delta is not cheap. And the idea of Riyadh as a transit point for travellers from Atlanta to India is undermined when you look at current traffic. Lets take the biggest market, Delhi. There are only 2 daily from Riyadh to Delhi! (3 on...
The subcontinent population of Atlanta is not the target market. As any travel analyst worth his salt will know, the Indian market is price sensitive and leans into the cheapest fares/carriers. Delta is not cheap. And the idea of Riyadh as a transit point for travellers from Atlanta to India is undermined when you look at current traffic. Lets take the biggest market, Delhi. There are only 2 daily from Riyadh to Delhi! (3 on some days). And they're all on narrow-bodies!! That's not a phenomenal amount of traffic. And certainly not one which can support to the idea of this route as a feeder route. The numbers are not there.
I would love a flight out of SLC to an Asian country. Now that would be news and much appreciated.
DL just started SLC-ICN. Reportedly doing well as would be expected of any ICN route
I had no idea. Great to hear! I had to go through Seattle last year to get to ICN.
Still no mention of Carston Spohr's wife hitting and killing a woman, huh?
Delta has a codeshare agreement with Saudia so this makes sense, once Riyadh Air takes over it’ll be easy to make the switch.
Never understand why Delta does not partner with Etihad. Their partnership with AA is weak and provide a lot of the connectivity Delta needs in that part of the world.
perhaps because EY was not willing to consider a joint venture and a deeper partnership which RX wanted.
RX specifically said they wanted DL's help setting up their maintenance operation and DL could end up doing engine overhauls for RX.
By deciding to launch flights from Atlanta to Delhi and Atlanta to Riyadh and not applying for JFK-HND when American did so can sense Delta doesn't want to fly the A350 out of JFK makes no sense considering I read somewhere Delta would only do so if it launched a route needing the range to do so (Delta still had 777s when it flew JFK-BOM just before COVID).
The Japanese market looks different now than it did a couple years ago.
and there are costs to adding the A350 to JFK for DL.
DL is very methodical about its strategies unlike some of its competitors. They will get to NYC to Asia in time but they will do so when there are multiple routes that can be added pretty close to another.
Their focus right now is building out ICN, building...
The Japanese market looks different now than it did a couple years ago.
and there are costs to adding the A350 to JFK for DL.
DL is very methodical about its strategies unlike some of its competitors. They will get to NYC to Asia in time but they will do so when there are multiple routes that can be added pretty close to another.
Their focus right now is building out ICN, building the west coast to Asia and in building ATL which can make any city on the planet work that can work from any other US gateway, given aircraft limitations (DL will not add ATL-S. Pacific)
LOL I've never seem someone carry the water for an airline like this one.
I still don’t get why they just didn’t expand Saudia, which is already in ST to begin with…
Because SV is now based out of Jeddah and will only have foreign flights land in Jeddah first before onward to Riyadh. Riyadh Air will be taking all the Saudia spots in Riyadh
SV is super JED focused and RUH is wildly underserved. But it’s still weird that the strategy wasn’t to push SV to “Munichize” Riyadh (referring to LH’s dual hub strategy in Germany) but rather to launch another airline.
I don’t think the DL value is for connections over RUH but rather to offer many more one stops to RUH as the destination via ATL.
-G
all of these route announcements - present or future - came from the DL employee rally post Q2 earnings.
and the theme should be that DL has watched the international marketplace long enough post covid to decide that aggressive growth is something it can do and do it far more efficiently and with far more capable aircraft than UA.
as for Saudi Arabia, it is an Arab Middle East country that is earlier in the...
all of these route announcements - present or future - came from the DL employee rally post Q2 earnings.
and the theme should be that DL has watched the international marketplace long enough post covid to decide that aggressive growth is something it can do and do it far more efficiently and with far more capable aircraft than UA.
as for Saudi Arabia, it is an Arab Middle East country that is earlier in the growth phase than the current big 3 - EK, QR and EY - or TK.
It is precisely because DL is getting in "on the ground floor" w RX that they will have a far bigger stake in Saudi aviation than AA or UA ever will have in the UAE or Qatar.
Is the ATL-TLV route restart article next or shall we shift to the 787-10 order?
Saudi Arabia still has a long ways to go before catching up with any of the big 3 and TK in terms of being a gobal and internartional hub.
@ Tim Dun -- What did I miss with the 787-10?
Ben,
my sources say DL is close to pulling the trigger on a 787 order and it would most likely be for the -10.
It was never realistic that DL would have a 100% Airbus widebody fleet.
Boeing and GE put a compelling offer on DL's plate when DL was evaluating the 787 vs. A350-1000. DL went with the -1000 for the range and performance. With 20 -1000s confirmed and up to 20 more...
Ben,
my sources say DL is close to pulling the trigger on a 787 order and it would most likely be for the -10.
It was never realistic that DL would have a 100% Airbus widebody fleet.
Boeing and GE put a compelling offer on DL's plate when DL was evaluating the 787 vs. A350-1000. DL went with the -1000 for the range and performance. With 20 -1000s confirmed and up to 20 more Airbus widebodies on option, I suspect that DL will have placed its last Airbus widebody order and option conversion within a couple years.
The 787-10, as you know, is very economical, is well-suited for TATL and S. America flights, and supports DL's upgauging of its international network just as DL did on its domestic network.
I would strongly believe that delivery of the 787s will begin as the 763ERs are removed from international service - eliminating a widebody international category - and the order and options will be for 40-50 aircraft by the early 2030s.
Wow thats surprising a plane that in size its close to the A350-900 but with way less range.
So DL its going to order the Dreamliner?
When CX ordered the A330neo, Tim said, "It is very unlikely that many airlines will order both the 787 and an A330/350 combination." Plenty of carriers have operated both competing types such as the A330/A340 and 772/772ER at the same time, so I wouldn't be surprised.
The 787-10 is more economical than the A359 on shorter routes and works well alongside the 330neo for TATL and West Coast-North Asia routes.
A CX 787-10...
When CX ordered the A330neo, Tim said, "It is very unlikely that many airlines will order both the 787 and an A330/350 combination." Plenty of carriers have operated both competing types such as the A330/A340 and 772/772ER at the same time, so I wouldn't be surprised.
The 787-10 is more economical than the A359 on shorter routes and works well alongside the 330neo for TATL and West Coast-North Asia routes.
A CX 787-10 order is still possible especially if they get a deal they can't refuse.
I also see Virgin operating some 787-10s.
let us know how many airlines DO operate the 330NEO, 350 (esp. both models) and the 787.. you can wait for DL's order to give us the tally.
DL was in early on the 330NEO and got great pricing. The 350 had the promise of being one of the most capable and efficient widebody aircraft and it is delivering.
The 787-10 is the most economical widebody per seat and will have operational range similar to...
let us know how many airlines DO operate the 330NEO, 350 (esp. both models) and the 787.. you can wait for DL's order to give us the tally.
DL was in early on the 330NEO and got great pricing. The 350 had the promise of being one of the most capable and efficient widebody aircraft and it is delivering.
The 787-10 is the most economical widebody per seat and will have operational range similar to the 330NEO but with 25 plus more seats.
And since DL has engine overhaul contracts on every new generation engine type it has on order, Boeing and GE know they will have to offer MRO rights to DL to win a 787 order. DL hasn't bought a GE widebody engine in the same amount of time since it took delivery of its last Boeing widebody - the 777LR.
Boeing and GE both want to put their products back in DL's fleet and DL has the potential to place a big order plus be a reputable maintenance provider.
regarding other airlines, VS really does not need A350-1000s for much of their network and their A350s are fairly early production and will be nowhere near as capable as DL's. Given that VS will keep their 787 fleet, they may make other fleet consolidation moves although the 339 is undoubtedly here to stay and I would certainly not bet my last dollar about the 35Ks leaving any time soon.
A few years ago Boeing said that they were working on a 787-10 IGW that would increase the range 430 nm to make the plane more competitive the 787 backlog its so big that if DL puts an order they will likely get that upgrade by the time of their deliveries.
Can't find old comments about Tim telling how bad 787-10 is, but it's there.
no you won't find that
I have said that the 787 as a family does not beat the A350's performance but I have said multiple times that the 787-10 is the most cost efficient new generation widebody per seat - but it is about equivalent to the 330-900 in performance and range.
Worlds most subsidized airline
AA won that prize. It was Parker's best fleecing job.
@PlanetAvgeek
As every ME Carrier!