It’s an exciting time for ambitious airline startup Riyadh Air. The airline has just taken delivery of its first factory fresh Boeing 787-9s, which will be used to launch regularly scheduled commercial service. The airline took delivery of three of these Dreamliners almost immediately, with several more coming soon, and they feature gorgeous interiors.
There’s now a major update — not only has the airline moved up the launch of its first flight that’s on sale to the public directly through its website (more on that odd caveat in a bit), but it has also put tickets on sale for its next five routes.
In this post:
Riyadh Air will launch London flights as of June 10, 2026
For a little bit of background, Riyadh Air was supposed to launch regularly scheduled operations in the summer of 2025, but that timeline slipped, a story that’s all too common nowadays. That was a function of Boeing 787 delivery delays, plus delays with the carrier getting its custom interiors ready for service.
We knew that Riyadh Air’s first route would be between Riyadh (RUH) and London (LHR), and the airline got creative with how it launched that service. You see, Riyadh Air had secured Heathrow slots for the IATA 2025-2026 winter season, which started in late October 2025. Heathrow has a “use it lose it” clause for slots, so that basically forced Riyadh Air into launching this service.
The airline took a unique approach to this, as it has essentially been flying the route daily since then, using a spare aircraft that used to fly for Oman Air. So this Boeing 787-9 doesn’t have the standard Riyadh Air interiors.
Since Riyadh Air wanted to make sure it launched regular operations as smoothly possible, it intentionally didn’t open these flights up to the public. Instead, they’ve been primarily for employees of the airline, employees of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and their families. The airline called this its “Pathway to Perfect go-to-market plan.”
Anyway, there’s now a major update — with Riyadh Air having taken delivery of its first custom fitted Dreamliners, the airline is preparing to launch operations that are open to the public. Riyadh Air tickets are now on sale directly on Riyadh Air’s website for flights as of June 10, 2026. As before, the Riyadh to London service operates with the following schedule:
RX401 Riyadh to London departing 2:35AM arriving 7:30AM
RX402 London to Riyadh departing 9:35AM arriving 6:05PM
The 3,073-mile flight is blocked at 6hr55min to London and 6hr30min to Riyadh. Previously the airline was supposed to launch these flights to the public as of July 1, 2026, though thanks to the delivery of the new planes, that timeline has been moved forward.
Here’s what Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas had to say about this development:
“Today marks a truly exciting milestone for Riyadh Air as we introduce our new aircraft and signature premium experience on our established London route. It demonstrates our deep commitment to delivering a truly world-class journey for our guests, one that blends exceptional comfort, cutting-edge technology and our distinctive Saudi ‘Hafawa’ hospitality from the moment they step on board.”
“Connecting Saudi Arabia with the UK directly and beyond through our growing network of global destinations including Jeddah, Cairo and Dubai, sits at the very heart of what we are building at Riyadh Air and the Kingdom’s ambitions under Vision 2030. We look forward to welcoming our guests aboard to experience the future of air travel.”
Riyadh Air reveals five additional routes, launching soon
It’s not just London flights that are on sale, but Riyadh Air has also just announced the launch dates for its first half dozen routes. What can we expect?
Riyadh Air’s Jeddah route launches June 14
As of June 14, 2026, Riyadh Air will launch twice daily flights between Riyadh and Jeddah (JED), which will operate with the following schedule:
RX11 Riyadh to Jeddah departing 9:00AM arriving 10:50AM
RX12 Jeddah to Riyadh departing 12:05PM arriving 1:50PM
RX27 Riyadh to Jeddah departing 7:40PM arriving 9:30PM
RX28 Jeddah to Riyadh departing 10:45PM arriving 12:30AM
The 530-mile flight is blocked at 1hr55min to Jeddah and 1hr45min to Riyadh. Frequencies will only increase from there.
Riyadh Air’s Dubai route launches June 18
As of June 18, 2026, Riyadh Air will launch daily flights between Riyadh and Dubai (DXB), which will operate with the following schedule:
RX234 Riyadh to Dubai departing 2:05PM arriving 5:00PM
RX244 Dubai to Riyadh departing 6:30PM arriving 7:20PM
The 543-mile flight is blocked at 1hr55min to Dubai and 1hr50min to Riyadh.
Riyadh Air’s Cairo route launches June 25
As of June 25, 2026, Riyadh Air will launch daily flights between Riyadh and Cairo (CAI), which will operate with the following schedule:
RX331 Riyadh to Cairo departing 4:10PM arriving 6:55PM
RX332 Cairo to Riyadh departing 8:25PM arriving 11:00PM
The 1,003-mile flight is blocked at 2hr45min to Cairo and 2hr35min to Riyadh.
Riyadh Air’s Madrid route launches July 17
As of July 17, 2026, Riyadh Air will launch 3x weekly flights between Riyadh and Madrid (MAD), which will operate with the following schedule:
RX531 Riyadh to Madrid departing 2:00AM arriving 7:55AM
RX532 Cairo to Riyadh departing 10:05AM arriving 5:20PM
The 3,071-mile flight is blocked at 6hr55min to Madrid and 6hr15min to Riyadh.
Riyadh Air’s Manchester route launches July 23
As of July 23, 2026, Riyadh Air will launch 3x weekly flights between Riyadh and Manchester (MAN), which will operate with the following schedule:
RX417 Riyadh to Manchester departing 1:30AM arriving 6:40AM
RX418 Manchester to Riyadh departing 8:40AM arriving 5:20PM
The 3,186-mile flight is blocked at 7hr10min to Manchester and 6hr40min to Riyadh.
Riyadh Air pricing, fares, and inclusions
With Riyadh Air tickets now on sale, what are fares like? Big picture, Riyadh Air has three fare bundles across cabins — Lite, Smart, and Flex, in economy and premium economy, and Smart, Flex, and Elite, in business class.
Since the first route is between London and Riyadh, let’s use that as an example. If flying roundtrip, currently I see business class fares starting at around 27,000 SAR (~7,200 USD).
If flying roundtrip from Riyadh to London, currently I see business class fares starting at around 18,500 SAR (~4,930 USD).
Since one-ways fare are significantly more than half the cost of a roundtrip, one strategy could be to book one direction in business class and one direction in economy, and that starts at around 10,500 SAR (~2,800 USD).
For what it’s worth, I see slightly more attractive fares for connecting itineraries (as is standard, but nothing crazy). Of note is that fares aren’t particularly cheap out of Cairo, which is something I’m grateful for, given that I’m not privileged enough to enjoy that breathtaking facility. 😉
If anyone sees any particularly good fares that I’m missing that don’t involve Cairo, please do let me know, as I’d like to review the experience, and of course the cheaper the fare, the better.
Riyadh Air’s seat maps are also now published on the website.
Keep in mind the airline has a special Business Elite product in the first row, so think of it as being along the lines of the trend of “business class plus” products. I currently see that costing an extra 1,000 SAR (~266 USD) on the London flight, beyond either of the two lower business class fare bundles, as it’s essentially a seat assignment fee. However, if you book the most expensive business class fare bundle, this is included.
Keep in mind that Riyadh Air has its Sfeer loyalty program, and the expectation is that we’re going to see loyalty collaborations with several SkyTeam airlines, including Air France-KLM, Delta, and Virgin Atlantic. Unfortunately it’s my understanding that it’s going to be some time until we actually see reciprocal points redemptions available, though.
Bottom line
Riyadh Air is going full steam ahead with its launch, given that the airline has just taken delivery of a trio of Dreamliners. Riyadh Air is selling tickets on its website on the London route for flights as of June 10, 2026. Then over the following weeks, we’ll see flights added to Jeddah, Dubai, Cairo, Madrid, and Manchester, in that order.
Riyadh Air is making a lot of promises when it comes to passenger experience, and I’m very curious to finally see some firsthand reports of the passenger experience. Bonus points to the person who can find the cheapest one-way business class fare that includes a long haul sector to or from Europe.
What do you make of Riyadh Air flights actually going on sale to the public?
Launching daily flights to Madrid and Manchester combined seems like an odd choice: no CDG, AMS or FRA?
I still dont understand what differentiates this airline from Saudia? Both are dry, both have lie flat seats, both serve the exact same destinations. What is the game changer?
Maybe one of them won’t slice you to pieces if you’re a regime critic? That could be a game changer.
I just connected through Abu Dhabi on Etihad, no problems what so ever….
As for timing, there is still a lot of people flying to and from the Middle East during the summer monthsfor business, Europeans going back home for summer break etc….etc…
When Riyadh air starts flying to the us I guess its first destinations would be JFK, IAD, MIA, LAX, possibly DTW for delta connections and large Arab population in Detroit.
Great timing. Middle East during summer and war. “That’s a nope for me, dawg.”
The outbound flights should be full :)
Bah! A solid business plan!
They seem to position themselves above Saudia but below BA, based on their pricing. Not sure if this works on a medium haul route (slightly more than 6 hours flight time). In my personal experience, Saudia is an ok airline, not the best on the planet but on a 6 hour flight absolutely tolerable. Yes, they are dry, but so is (almost) the entire kingdom, therefore 6 hours more or less without booze not a...
They seem to position themselves above Saudia but below BA, based on their pricing. Not sure if this works on a medium haul route (slightly more than 6 hours flight time). In my personal experience, Saudia is an ok airline, not the best on the planet but on a 6 hour flight absolutely tolerable. Yes, they are dry, but so is (almost) the entire kingdom, therefore 6 hours more or less without booze not a dealbreaker. Bottom line: I would not pay USD 1000 more for Riyadh Air or USD 2000 more for BA, if I can fly Saudia.
yeah i was thinking this too - their product positioning strategy seems, uh, aspirational
Competition is good but I'd never visit that place ever.
brb booking my London trip ATL-RUH-LHR
And here’s why it’s great for Delta…