ATM 2025: Riyadh Air to set sights on freighters once wide-body deal is finalised, CEO says

Riyadh Air aims to finalise a wide-body aircraft order this summer, as it chooses between the Boeing 777X and Airbus A350-1000 models, the industry's largest twin-aisle jets. The Saudi Arabian start-up is also considering an order for dedicated freighters after it makes a decision on the twin-aisle jets, chief executive Tony Douglas told The National at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. "We will do an extra-wide-body order, if it all works on the timelines we're on, that will be a summer announcement, and it will be the third aircraft type in our fleet," he said. After finalising the order, Riyadh Air will select freighters of the same model. Mr Douglas said: "After we've announced the extra-wide-body order, what will follow will be a freighter confirmation. It will be the same airframe and engine choice as the extra-wide-body." The Public Investment Fund-backed Riyadh Air in 2023 placed orders for 39 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with options for 33 more, and for Airbus A321 Neo narrow-bodies in 2024. The latest order hinges on "three swim lanes" of performance, pricing and slot availability as it compares each model, Mr Douglas said. "I'd take them tomorrow morning, that's how soon we'd like them, but the reality is, with both [Boeing and Airbus], that's not going to happen any time soon," he added. While the 777X will be a "great aircraft", the plane has yet to be certified, he said. Meanwhile, the A350-1000 is facing issues with the durability of its Rolls-Royce engine but modifications will be introduced on all deliveries in 2026-2027, he added. "It doesn't matter which way we go, on the engines side of it we will be on the next level of evolution," Mr Douglas said. "It's a very complex evaluation. If these things were a slam dunk, they genuinely are a 51-49er when you get into this level of sophistication." The start-up airline expects to take delivery of its first three 787s this year, another 10 in 2026 and then one aircraft a month thereafter, Mr Douglas said, declining to specify when the first planes will arrive. "If we were to go to Charleston, South Carolina at the moment, we could have this conversation sat inside our fuselage," he said, referring to Boeing's production plant. "Our first three [787s] are going down the production line as we speak." It is "only a matter of time" before the airline firms up the options for 33 Boeing 787s, leaving it with a fleet of 132 aircraft in total, Mr Douglas said. Boeing, which changed the delivery schedule five times last year, has "stabilised" this year but "until the aircraft is on the tarmac at Riyadh airport, and I can throw my arms around it, things can change in a heartbeat", he said. "Because we are a start-up, we don't have a Plan B." The airline will start selling tickets in "late summer" before its first commercial flight in the fourth quarter of 2025. "The ticket-selling window will determine where we will fly to and the timing of that service, so it will be a number of destinations that we release," Mr Douglas said, declining to reveal precise dates or routes. The "digital native" airline will set its tickets primarily on a "3.0" version of its mobile app that will be the "holy grail that most commercial airlines have been searching for decades and we've got it cracked", he said. Riyadh Air, which has hired 500 employees, plans to add 1,000 more in the next 12 months, Mr Douglas said. Saudi Arabia recorded an 8 per cent increase in passenger traffic to 34.9 million between January and March, according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation. A total of 21 airlines have entered the Saudi market over the past year, including China Eastern, Virgin Atlantic, Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways), Eurowings and Air China. More than 20 new routes were established to destinations such as Rome, Hong Kong and Beijing.

ATM 2025: Riyadh Air to set sights on freighters once wide-body deal is finalised, CEO says

Saudi Arabian start-up plans to take to the skies near the end of 2025 with tickets on sale in late summer, Tony Douglas reveals