Riyadh Air Launches 787 Flights

Riyadh Air, after many years of anticipation, has commenced scheduled passenger flights.

The airline operated its brand-new Boeing 787 on flight RX401, departing Riyadh King Khalid International Airport (RUH) at 0326 and arriving at London Heathrow 6 hours and 48 minutes later.

While on a scheduled flight, those on board the carrier were not your typical passenger base: the flight was full of staff members of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) supporting the airline, along with airline employees, guests, and partners.

Riyadh Air is not launching most conventionally, with flights immediately open to passengers; instead, the airline is moving forward with a policy that prioritises flights for those close to the business, at least for the initial batch.

However, very quickly, the airline will see these flights move to routine scheduled passenger operations as Riyadh Air will operate daily flights with its Boeing 787 to London Heathrow.

There was undoubtedly some scepticism surrounding the launch of the airline’s operations, given the associated delays in acquiring Boeing planes; however, Riyadh Air felt a formal launch was necessary because of the valuable slot it holds.

London Heathrow, however, will be just one of the many locations set to feature on the Riyadh Air route map, while Dubai has been confirmed as the airline’s next destination on a more short-haul basis; more markets will be within reach soon.

The network expansion will be made possible by the delivery of more Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which, unfortunately, have held up the airline’s launch to date and, with delivery uncertainty, have made this expansion more complex.

With that said, Riyadh Air has previously said it will keep an eye out in the coming weeks and months as it looks to develop its network further and reach 100 destinations by 2030.

The first flight was also operated by the airline’s technical spare, rather than with its own genuine scheduled flying aircraft. The first units have been heavily delayed and are expected to arrive by the end of the year; therefore, the launch shows a sense of urgency.

What’s Next For Riyadh Air?

Now that Riyadh Air has launched, the airline can continue to move forward positively, adding more aircraft and routes.

Therefore, what can be expected next is an important period of growth while focusing on maintaining operational excellence, as the carrier would argue, this aligns with the delivery of the initial batch of Boeing 787 jets to fuel flying to Dubai, among other markets.

With the Boeing 787 set to play an integral role in the airline’s fleet moving forward, it also marks Riyadh Air’s first widebody jet, with the airline only adding widebody jets to its fleet in June.

At the 2025 Paris Airshow, the airline confirmed it would order 25 A350-1000s, in a move that snubbed the Boeing 777X. Included in the deal were options for a further 25 units, bringing the total to 50, should the airline wish to activate these at a later date.

The high capacity of these aircraft will prove crucial to the airline’s fleet development moving forward, enabling greater capacity to be served into high-demand markets over the Boeing 787 Dreamliner while freeing up these aircraft for deployment to other locations on the network.

On a smaller scale, and confirmed at the end of 2024, Riyadh Air also signed a deal for 60 A321neo family jets, which will be the only single-aisle model in the airline’s fleet and will be pivotal to reaching short- to medium-haul markets.