Eight months after Riyadh Air started operating daily flights between Riyadh and London Heathrow, the highly-anticapated new start-up airline, which is being bankrolled by the Saudi Arabian government, is finally going to start carrying fare-paying passengers on its flagship route.
Until now, Riyadh Air has essentially been a private charter airline, flying daily to and from London with just the airline’s own staff and special guests on board, because of the serious delays it has faced in taking delivery of its first custom-built Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
First announced in early 2023, Riyadh Air had ambitious plans to start commercial operations in just two years. To do so, the airline ordered 72 brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with the first due to be delivered in December 2024.
More than 16 months later, Riyadh Air is yet to take delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner from this order.
Instead, Riyadh Air has been preparing for its launch with the use of a loaned 787 Dreamliner from Oman Air. This aircraft has allowed Riyadh Air to complete its certification campaign and train its pilots, cabin crew, and engineers, but it doesn’t come with Riyadh Air’s bespoke interiors.
Officially, this aircraft will be used as an operational spare, but in October 2025, Riyadh decided to launch flights to London Heathrow.
The official reason for doing this was under the airline’s ‘pathway to perfect’ program to fully prepare staff and iron out any kinks in its service, although there was another reason for flying near-empty planes to Heathrow for months on end.
Last June, Riyadh Air miraculously managed to acquire a pair of landing and takeoff slots at London Heathrow. Given just how capacity-constrained Heathrow is, acquiring these highly sought-after slots is no easy feat.
The slots were from the start of the Winter flying season, beginning at the end of October 2025, but Riyadh Air, just like any other airline with slots at Heathrow aren’t permitted to just hold onto them with an intention to use them at some point.
Under strict ‘use it or lose it rules,’ airlines must operate flights for a slot pair at least 80% of the time. If they don’t, the slots are forfeited and awarded to another airline.
So, since the end of October 2025, Riyadh Air has been flying its ‘operational spare’ Boeing 787 to and from London Heathrow – officially, to perfect its ground and onboard experience, and unofficially to prevent it from losing a pair of incredibly valuable slots.
Although these flights have been open for booking through Riyadh Air’s travel partners, they couldn’t be booked directly. That, however, is now changing, with public ticket sales opening for flights departing from July 1.
The reason is that Riyadh Air is expected to very soon take delivery of its first new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and flights to London Heathrow from July 1 will be exclusively operated on this aircraft.
The outbound flight will depart as RX401 at 2:35 am and arrive at London Heathrow at 7:30 am. The return flight will then depart as RX402 at 9:35 am and arrive in Riyadh at 6:05 pm.
Although London Heathrow will be Riyadh Air’s first destination, the carrier has plans to serve as many as 100 destinations within just a few years. Along with the 70 Boeing 787s on order, Riyadh Air has also ordered 25 Airbus A350-1000 widebody aircraft with options for double that, and 60 Airbus A321neo single-aisle jets.
Riyadh Air’s business strategy remains a bit confused, as the airline’s chief executive, Tony Douglas, initially said that the carrier didn’t intend to compete with the likes of Emirates or Qatar Airways by acting as a ‘super connector’ moving passengers from East to West through its Middle East hub.
Instead, Riyadh Air is meant to serve Saudi Arabia’s growing tourism market, although just how successful that will be remains to be seen.
Some of Saudis flagship building projects have ground to a halt, and there are very serious questions to be asked about whether the country has the funding available to transform itself into something resembling Dubai.
