Riyadh Air’s order has to wait for a few weeks but network planning is work in progress

Riyadh Air has not announced its narrowbody aircraft order at this week’s Dubai Airshow. Instead, it will do this before the end of November during an event in its home town Riyadh, a spokesperson confirms. According to some reports, the airline will buy over 100 Boeing MAX. It was widely anticipated that the start-up carrier would use the Dubai Airshow as a platform for its narrowbody order and other announcements. However, CEO Tony Douglas made clear in an interview that the final decision on the fleet was still being reviewed and announced in two weeks’ time. With a firm order for 39 787-9s plus 33 options announced in March, Boeing seems to have strong cards to win the narrowbody deal too. The only Riyadh Air event for which media turned out in big numbers this week was the reveal of the second livery. The airline had unveiled the lavender/purple livery on a 787-9 just ahead of the Paris Airshow in June and showcased the aircraft there on static display. The same aircraft was on static display in Dubai but closed for visits, as the Dreamliner is originally for MIAT Mongolia and has their cabin. Riyadh Air shared the second livery on social media late on Sunday evening. Those expecting another freshly painted white and lavender Dreamliner to show up at Al Maktoum International Airport and park next to the purple one were disappointed. Instead, with some fanfare, Douglas (“The brand is Riyadh, the brand is Riyadh, the brand is Riyadh”) revealed the livery by trying to present it via a QR code on a tablet. The idea was that this would produce an image that would project the new livery over the 787 on static display, but the app was playing tricks and not working as expected. Riyadh Air's second livery was presented in Dubai, but as a rendering only. (Riyadh Air) Work in progress on the network Behind the scenes, Riyadh Air is very much in preparation mode for its launch in 2025. Chief Commercial Officer Vincent Coste told AirInsight that the airline has received a very good response from potential markets and airports that all want Riyadh Air to include them in the network. Not only in Dubai but especially last week in London at the World Travel Market fair. But the airline hasn’t finalized the first destinations yet, with Coste unwilling to share details on which ones these might be. “We are planning our first flight in Q2 of 2025 and will be starting sales in Q1. Obviously, we need a little lead time to fill up the aircraft. But everything is on track to start sales in early 2025.” “We have already a network plan. Obviously, in the airline industry, networks are constantly adapted, but when you start an airline like Riyadh Air, it is quite easy to define a network, because it is all about looking at traffic flows. It is essentially about closing a gap in connectivity between Riyadh and the rest of the world. Take the traffic flows between the G20 capitals in the world and Riyadh, and you can easily deduct what our first destinations will be.” Riyadh Air targets 100 destinations by 2030, but the number of first destinations will depend on the arrival of the Boeing 787s. “We will have one aircraft coming, then two, then three, etcetera. We wish we would have as many aircraft as possible from the beginning because we see so much demand.” Coste added: “We will reveal the number of destinations and destinations next year. We will fly a few in 2025 and more in 2026. You can make the maths with the number of aircraft coming in. We are aligned with Boeing on timelines. From the moment we have the aircraft, our ramp up will be extremely fast, because we have 5,5 years roughly to go from one to over 100.” A longer interview with Coste will be published later. Saudia showcased a Boeing 787-10 with the new livery in Dubai. (Richard Schuurman) Saudi connections On the first day of the airshow only, Riyadh Air’s 787-9 and Saudia's 787-10 in the new livery were parked next to each other on the static display. The two airlines share more than the same national flag and shareholders. While Saudia already operates as the national carrier since 1945, Riyadh Air will become the second national airline to help grow tourism and traffic and bring 100 million tourists to the country. At first, Riyadh Air has been perceived by some as a direct threat to Saudia, but this is a misconception. Saudia has recently unveiled its new growth strategy, of which the new retro-livery is just the outside. All internal business units have been restructured and transformed to prepare the airline for more efficiency and more customers, who will benefit from the latest in digital technology. And the two airlines are not enemies, on the contrary. On Tuesday, Saudia and Riyadh Air announced a strategic corporation memorandum of understanding to work closely together in various areas. The main partnership will be through the code-sharing of flights to offer customers more options, especially during the formative years of Riyadh Air. The two airlines also seek “broader synergies and efficiencies across the value chain in areas such as commercial, digital development, aviation support services, and cargo/logistics. The strategic agreement also aims to optimize routes and resources to ultimately provide guests with a broader range of destinations and services,” they said in a media statement.

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