Riyadh Air, the Saudi Arabian national airline, will launch its first international flights to London’s Heathrow airport (LHR) starting 26th October. The first flights will be flown daily with one of the airline's Boeing 787-9 aircraft — Jamila, which is currently designated as a technical spare. 

Riyadh Air workers and PIF staff, as well as their families, will have the privilege to purchase tickets on board these historic flights.

Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas said this is a clear demonstration of the dream to bring Saudi Arabia closer to the world becoming a reality, one of the principal cornerstones set down by Saudi Vision 2030. Douglas also revealed that this fastidious flight programme on Jamila would enable the crew to get every last operational aspect right, ensuring a smooth and dependable world-class travel experience.

This gradual process was a cautious approach to be as risk-adverse as possible and for the carrier to fine-tune every last-minute detail before opening sales up to the general public.

The first flight, which will be RX401, is due to depart Riyadh at 03:15 local time and land at LHR at 07:30 local time after a journey of 3,070 miles. On the return leg of the flight, RX402 will take off at 09:30 and arrive back in Riyadh at 19:15 for a total flying time of about seven hours.

Public ticket sales are planned to go on sale a few weeks after the October launch, after the first two 787-9 aircraft are delivered by Boeing to Riyadh Air. The second international destination for the carrier, Dubai, will be launched shortly after London, followed by the announcement of additional new routes during the Winter 2025 and Summer 2026 seasons.

Concurrent with the reveal of new routes, the airline introduced ‘Sfeer,’ its digitally driven community-based loyalty program. One of the program’s unique benefits is the option to share members’ Level Points and benefits with family and friends in order to help them move up on their own status tier.

Early-bird customers, who will be called ‘The Founders’, will get perks such as priority access to ticket bookings for future flights, exclusive event invites, and free Wi-Fi on the plane. Sfeer also has a “no points expiry” policy in place and, by 2026, it’ll have fully switched on gamified experiences and leaderboards.