Riyadh Air is the second

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

of Saudi Arabia, after

Saudia Saudia (), formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines (), is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia based in Jeddah. The airline's main hubs are the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the ...

, based in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

. The airline's main hub will be at

King Khalid International Airport King Khalid International Airport (; ) is an international airport located about north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This airport consists of five Airport terminal, passenger terminals with eight aero-bridges each, a mosque, and parking facilities ...

, and will be aimed at the world market, operating domestic and internationally scheduled flights to over 100 destinations in six continents. The fleet will consist of 60

Airbus A321neo The Airbus A321neo is a Single-aisle aircraft, single-aisle airliner created by Airbus. The A321neo (''neo'' being an acronym for "new engine option") is developed from the Airbus A321 and Airbus A320neo family. It is the longest stretched fusela ...

, 50 Airbus A350-1000s & 72 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners aircraft. As of 2024, the airline is planning to operate its first commercial flights in 2025. It has cooperation agreements with

SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, after Star Alliance and Oneworld. Its annual passenger count is 624 million customers (2024), the second ...

members

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

China Eastern Airlines China Eastern Airlines (branded as China Eastern) is a major airline in China, headquartered in Changning, Shanghai, Changning, Shanghai. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Southern Airlines. ...

, and

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic A ...

, and

Star Alliance Star Alliance is an airline alliance headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded on 14 May 1997, it was the world's first global airline alliance. Star Alliance has 25 member airlines that operate a combined fleet of over 5,000 aircraft, servi ...

members

Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları''), or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı, is the flag carrier of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 352 destinations (including cargo) in Europe, Asia, Oce ...

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...

Air China Air China, officially Air China Limited, ( zh, s=中国国际航空公司, labels=no, ''Zhōngguó guójì hángkōng gōngsī'') is a major Chinese airline and the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China. It is headquartered in Shunyi ...

, and Egyptair. According to the

Saudi Press Agency The Saudi Press Agency (SPA; ) is the State media, state news agency of Saudi Arabia. It was established in 1970 during the reign of Faisal of Saudi Arabia, King Faisal bin Abdulaziz, and functions under the country's Ministry of Media (Saudi Ar ...

(SPA), Riyadh Air will be owned by the country's

Public Investment Fund The Public Investment Fund (PIF; ) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of billion. It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on be ...

(PIF), with

Yasir Al-Rumayyan Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan (; born 18 February 1970) is a Saudi Arabian Businessperson, businessman who is governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also chairs the state-owned ...

, the governor of PIF, as its chairman. Tony Douglas was appointed as its CEO. He was the CEO of UAE airline

Etihad Airways Etihad Airways is one of the two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Zayed International Airport. The airline commenced operations in November 2003, and ...

from January 2018 until October 2022. Riyadh Air is expected to add US$20 billion to non-oil GDP growth, and create more than 200,000 direct and

indirect jobs Investments into an industry or project can produce temporary and long-term employment. The resulting jobs are typically categorized as being one of three types. A direct job is employment created to fulfill the demand for a product or service. An ...

History

On 12 March 2023, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,

Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the ''de facto'' ruler of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Sa ...

, formally announced the establishment of Riyadh Air, the country's newest national airline. Two days later, it was announced that the airline had ordered 39

Boeing 787-9 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American Wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Boeing Sonic Cruiser, Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the ...

aircraft, with options for 33 more aircraft. Riyadh Air Boeing 787 at Dubai Airshow 2023

Riyadh Air unveiled its first

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

on 4 June 2023. The livery was painted on a Boeing 787-9, although this aircraft was owned by Boeing and will not enter the Riyadh Air fleet. On the same day, it received its airline designator code "RX" from the

International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

(IATA) at the World Air Transport Summit, which took place in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. On 12 June 2023, Boeing delivered the first aircraft to the airline's fleet. On 14 June 2023, the airline was granted its Passenger Air Transport Economic License by the

General Authority of Civil Aviation The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) () is the regulator of Saudi Arabia's civil aviation sector. It was established in 1934 as the Civil Aviation Administration () to oversee the air traffic control of Saudi Arabia. It is responsible ...

(GACA), which is required for the airline to begin commercial operations. On 21 June 2023, at the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (, ''Salon du Bourget'') is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, the ''Groupement des industries frança ...

, Riyadh Air signed an agreement for 90 GE Aerospace's GEnx-1B engines to power its future fleet of 39

aircraft. On 9 July 2024, Riyadh Air signed a memorandum of understanding with

, a founding member of the

alliance. Under the terms of the memorandum, the two airlines would establish a basis for future flight codesharing and alignment of the customer service and frequent-flier program experiences. On 30 October 2024, Riyadh Air confirmed an order of 60

. On 15 January 2025, Riyadh Air received its first Boeing 787-9 aircraft, however it is leased, and it will be used only as a technical spare and training aircraft. On 6 April 2025, Riyadh Air received approval from the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) to commence its flight operations. On 16 June 2025, Riyadh Air announced the order of 25

Airbus A350-1000 The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbus A330 with c ...

aircraft at the

. The deal also includes purchase rights for an additional 25 airframes, if acted on would see 50 A350 aircraft operated by the airline.

Sponsorships

On 10 August 2023, Riyadh Air became the main shirt sponsor of Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. On 16 August 2024, Riyadh Air became the official airline of

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

, the association football confederation of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. On 9 October 2024, Riyadh Air expanded its sponsorship, becoming the stadium naming partner of Atlético de Madrid's

Metropolitano Stadium Metropolitano Stadium (Spanish language, Spanish: ), also referred to as Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium in Madrid, Spain. It has been the home stadium of Atlético Madrid since the 2017–18 Atlético Madri ...

to Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

Destinations

Riyadh Air will start flight operations in spring 2025 with a regional network, which shall expand immediately to all global regions. Co-operation with other airlines shall extend the entire network in several global regions. MoUs are signed with: *

Air France–KLM Air France–KLM S.A., also known as Air France–KLM Group, is a French-Dutch multinational airline holding company with its headquarters in the rue du Cirque, Paris, France. The group’s three major brands are Air France, KLM and Transavia ...

* Egyptair *

Fleet

Notes

References