Riyadh Air completed its first commercial passenger flight today, June 10, 2026, touching down at London Heathrow this morning after departing Riyadh at 2:35AM local time. The London route served as the airline’s debut in revenue service, arriving three weeks ahead of the original schedule following the early delivery of the carrier’s first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
The airline, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has spent the past three years building from scratch as Saudi Arabia seeks to establish Riyadh as a global aviation hub under its Vision 2030 economic diversification programme. Today’s arrival in London marks the first time a paying public has boarded and flown a Riyadh Air flight.
On June 8, Riyadh Air announced that due to the arrival of its third Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, the London Heathrow service would start on June 10, moved forward from the previously scheduled July 1 date. The airline said deliveries were accelerating and confirmed it was bringing the inaugural operation three weeks forward.
The Riyadh to London service operated as flight RX401, departing Riyadh at 2:35AM and arriving at Heathrow at 7:30AM. The return, RX402, departs London at 9:35AM and lands in Riyadh at 6:05PM. The 3,073-mile route is blocked at six hours and 55 minutes outbound and six hours and 30 minutes on the return.
Riyadh Air’s first two Dreamliners, registered HZ-RXAA and HZ-RXAB, arrived in Riyadh on June 5, with a third, HZ-RXAC, touching down in Jeddah on June 6 after a nearly 14-hour delivery flight from Everett Paine Field in Washington state.
The London landing is only the beginning of a rapid rollout. Ticket sales are open for flights to Cairo, Dubai, Jeddah, Madrid, and Manchester. Jeddah service begins June 14, Dubai on June 18, Cairo on June 25, Madrid on July 17, and Manchester on July 23.
All six launch routes are operated on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, the first of an eventual fleet of 72 aircraft of the type. The arrival of the third Dreamliner strengthened the airline’s operational readiness as it targets connections to more than 100 destinations worldwide by 2030.
Tickets are available through the Riyadh Air website and mobile app, as well as approved travel agents and booking platforms.
For Saudi Arabia, today is more than an airline milestone. It is a signal that Riyadh is serious about competing with Dubai and Doha as a transit hub connecting East and West, and that Vision 2030’s aviation ambitions have moved from plan to practice.
