Tag Archives: Riyadh Air

Riyadh Air commences operations

Today, October 26, 2025, marked a milestone for Saudi Arabia’s new national carrier: Riyadh Air completed its inaugural passenger service to London Heathrow on October 26, 2025.

The flight, designated RX401, departed Riyadh King Khalid International Airport at 3:26 a.m. local time and landed at London Heathrow six hours and 48 minutes later. The aircraft used was a Boeing 787‑9 Dreamliner (HZ-RXX), nicknamed Jamila (“beautiful” in Arabic). This jet has been serving as Riyadh Air’s technical spare and training aircraft since early 2025, leased from Oman Air while the airline awaits delivery of its own new fleet.

For this inaugural service, the passenger list was limited to Riyadh Air employees, staff from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) — the Saudi sovereign wealth fund backing the airline — and invited partners and guests. The airline has stated that this “insiders‑only” approach will continue for the next few flights as it fine‑tunes operations before opening to the general public.

The London route is the first step in Riyadh Air’s ambitious plan to connect Riyadh to more than 100 destinations by 2030, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy. Daily service to Heathrow will be followed by the launch of flights to Dubai (DXB) in the coming weeks.

This inaugural flight also comes after Riyadh Air secured its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in April 2025, and it represents the airline’s official entry into the global market. The carrier has major fleet orders in place — including 72 Boeing 787s, 60 Airbus A321neos, and up to 50 Airbus A350s — with the first brand‑new aircraft expected to arrive before the end of 2025.

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Riyadh Air prepares for the arrival of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Riyadh Air announced:

In a hugely positive move, Riyadh Air is preparing for the arrival of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The leased aircraft, painted in the airline’s resplendent pearl livery and set to be used as a technical spare and for training purposes, will be unveiled at the airline’s home airport at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.

With the airline’s highly anticipated cabin interiors set to be revealed soon, this aircraft will not feature the new cabin but does have a high-specification interior to meet guests’ expectations when flying with a world-class modern airline.

This aircraft is separate from the original Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft order of 72 aircraft and will be utilized over the coming months for training purposes. It will continue the process of Air Operator Certificate (AOC) with the General Authority of Civil Aviation before operating as Riyadh Air’s technical spare to allow operations to commence later in 2025.

The opportunity to lease this plane demonstrates the innovative nature of Riyadh Air to create solutions and start serving the people of Riyadh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2025.