Riyadh Air is one of the most ambitious and well funded airline startups we’ve seen in a long time, and the airline expects to launch operations in the coming weeks. The company has already revealed many details of its inflight experience, and has now given us a good sense of what we can expect on the ground.
In this post:
Riyadh Air will open Al Hafawa Lounge Riyadh
Riyadh Air is opening the Hafawa Lounge at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH). “Hafawa” is an Arabic word embodying warmth and hospitality. The lounge is expected to open when the airline commences operations.
The new lounge will be roughly 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet), with seating for around 370 guests, and it’ll be open exclusively to Riyadh Air’s business class guests (including those traveling in the carrier’s “Business Elite” product). It will be located between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.
As it’s described, the new lounge integrates Saudi heritage with innovative technology, and is broken up into multiple themed areas, designed to meet individual needs, based on whether they want to rest, socialize, dine, or enjoy immersive digital experiences.
The lounge was designed by global studio Yabu Pushelberg, with the material palette including limestone, oak wood, bronze detailing, and textured plaster elements. This is intended to draw inspiration from the natural landscapes of Saudi Arabia.
Upon arrival in the lounge, guests will be welcomed by Saudi coffee and dates, before moving on to their preferred zone in the lounge.
When it comes to eating and drinking, there’s no shortage of options. In the Executive Dining area, guests can enjoy an à la carte experience, overlooking a serene garden, with a calming, nature-inspired setting. Separate from that, there’s the Buffet and Social Dining, a larger dining area with a selection of international favorites.
At The Café, travelers can enjoy freshly brewed coffee prepared by baristas, along with a selection of pastries and light bites from the in-house bakery. The Beverage Corner also includes crafted non-alcoholic beverages.
The lounge also boasts the Social Lounge, Family Rooms, and Private Rooms, depending on the vibe that guests are looking for to relax. There’s also the Immersive Room, which brings digital experiences to life.
I’m working on getting higher quality renderings, but below are a few screenshots from the above video.
This looks like a gorgeous, well designed lounge!
It’s rare to see a startup airline have a high quality, flagship lounge at the time of launch, so this is pretty remarkable on Riyadh Air’s part. Based on what we know so far, this lounge looks beautiful and thoughtfully designed.
At first, this lounge will likely be a true oasis, given that the airline will initially start operations with just a couple of planes, and build up its network gradually. Of course with the airline having many dozens of planes on order, the lounge will get gradually busier over time. Then again, we’re going to eventually see a new airport in Riyadh, where I imagine the airline will also offer an impressive facility, with no space constraints.
There’s no denying that Riyadh Air is putting a ton of effort into its passenger experience, and has money to invest. Now, how that all comes together remains to be seen (I look forward to experiencing it firsthand!), but the airline is certainly promising a lot.
Given the lack of alcohol, I’m happy to see that the airline is putting effort into its non-alcoholic drink selection, with everything from a welcome with Saudi coffee and dates upon entry, to barista coffee, to an additional special selection of non-alcoholic drinks.
Bottom line
Riyadh Air has revealed the details of its Hafawa Lounge, which will be the carrier’s premium facility at Riyadh Airport. The lounge looks beautiful, and it’s rare to see an airline unveil such an impressive facility before even launching operations.
Now we just have to see when the airline actually launches operations, because that’s kind of a big detail. 😉
What do you make of Riyadh Air’s new lounge?
Come for the mocktails, stay for the hijabs.
Delta customers sure are in for a fun surprise if they think they're flying to an equivalent DOH or DXB.
"When it comes to eating and drinking, there’s no shortage of options."
I can think of a few.
Even worse than Royal Brunei, which at least allows BYOB on board.
@lucky when is the airline supposed to start operations?
@ Mike -- They just announced that they're actually launching in just a few weeks, but in a quirky way:
https://onemileatatime.com/news/riyadh-air-london-flights/
Airline won't survive without alcohol, unless they are significantly cheaper in fare than me3, if the business class seat riyadh charges is same as qsuite, why choose the no alcohol option for those who drink at all
@ Luke -- While we'll see how it plays out, keep in mind that the claim is that Riyadh Air primarily wants to serve traffic to and from Saudi Arabia, rather than connecting traffic between other regions. Saudi Arabia has a much bigger population than the UAE, Qatar, etc.
Hopefully, it'd take less than Allegris :P
I don’t drink anymore but in my early 20s a non alcoholic lounge would have been a complete non starter.
I'm guessing that the average business class passenger's age is rather higher, though?
Not sure about other markets but ages 35-54 drink more than other in the UK. Individuals may have stopped drinking compared to their youth but there's still a large bulk of people for whom it is an important part of their relaxing ritual.