Singapore Airlines Delays Riyadh Launch To 2027

Singapore Airlines has pushed back its return to Riyadh, with the expected December 2026 launch no longer happening.

The Changi-based carrier, under a new revised schedule, will launch service to the Saudi Arabian city in time for the Northern Summer 2026 season, thus skipping the Northern Winter season entirely.

The revised schedule still retains three weekly flights for Summer, instead of the four previously planned, and the new commencement date is 28 March 2027; this is still subject to change.

Singapore Airlines pushing back Riyadh flights to March 2027 wouldn’t represent the first change by the airline; by the time the flight launches at the end of the first quarter next year, it would come ten months after the original June 2026 launch date.

Changi to Riyadh schedule shifts detailed

The latest schedule shows that Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) – Riyadh King Khalid International Airport (RUH) flights will operate three times a week, with departures on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on the Airbus A350.

Aeroroutes flags that the A350 will operate flight SQ498, departing Changi at 1820 and arriving in Riyadh the same day at 2145, all times local. Meanwhile, the return flight SQ499 departs Riyadh at 2300 and arrives back at the airline’s hub in Changi at 1215 the following day.

The summer programme, intended to commence months after the Northern Winter schedule, followed a previously anticipated December 1 launch that would increase frequency from three flights a week to four, but now the three flights will remain year-round.

By cutting the fourth weekly flight, Singapore Airlines will see a 25% drop in weekly frequency and fewer seats between the two cities, and the route will be absent from the Northern Winter 2026/27 passenger schedule.

Singapore Airlines keeps delaying Riyadh flights

Singapore Airlines first announced the return of service to Riyadh in February this year, with a proposed launch on 2 June 2026 and four weekly flights from the start. Singapore Airlines selected the A350-900 with 303 seats.

Then Singapore Airlines delayed the launch after instability in the Middle East emerged weeks after it announced the route relaunch. The first pushback indicated a September launch, then it was further pushed to December.

Now the airline intends to launch the flight more than a year after its announcement, with March 2027 as the tentative window for the Airbus A350 route to commence with three flights a week.

Riyadh represents a market that Singapore Airlines previously served; however, it ended service in August 2014. Returning to the city and restoring a link to Saudi Arabia’s capital comes after more than 12 years and offers a nonstop alternative.