Riyadh Air Expects Commercial Flights to Start Early 2026

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00:00You're the Gulf's newest carrier, you've started flight testing, you've got aircraft running in and out of London.

00:06The question that everybody wants the answer to, Tony, is when do we see the first commercial flight?

00:11Is it January next year? Is it February next year?

00:14So, Guy, Riyadhur loves a good air show and as you say, here we are in sunny Dubai

00:19and on the 26th of October, we were up and running with our first scheduled daily service to London Heathrow.

00:29How's it going?

00:30It's going really well and of course, this is a movie that was three years in the making

00:34from when we received a decree from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

00:4126th of October was that really important milestone, up and running commercial services

00:47and you know what, it feels good.

00:49Paying passengers?

00:50So, the paying passengers, what we deliberately introduced was a pathway to perfect.

00:55What does that mean?

00:57So, it's allowing members of PIF, our shareholder, it's a really big company, so their employees

01:03plus their family members and their friends to be able to buy tickets on our scheduled services.

01:10What does that mean?

01:11Almost like you were put in a great big resort online, you can test absolutely everything.

01:18So, soon we'll put Dubai on as well.

01:19Right, so you're in the testing phase right now, when does the testing phase come to an end

01:24and the rest of us get to have a go and see what it's like?

01:28Is that the beginning of next year?

01:29So, first of all, I can't wait to serve you and the people who are watching this at 38,000 feet.

01:34Our first new delivery aircraft is finished, completely finished, is now in the certification process in Boeing in Charleston, South Carolina.

01:45The second aircraft is in the paint shop, it's got the seats inside.

01:50The third new aircraft is currently going into the final assembly process.

01:54So, they're all inbound and we're very confident and, frankly, super excited that we'll be going live in the early part of next year.

02:02You need three aircraft, don't you? You probably need one on each leg plus one if there's a problem.

02:07So, I'm targeting three, but, of course, we've already got one.

02:10We call a Jamila, so two new deliveries, Pruss Jamila, pathway to perfect.

02:15If I'm happy with everything else, it's all about an obsessional attention to detail with guest experience.

02:22Then we'll be up and running.

02:24In terms of what happens next, is it all about the availability of aircraft?

02:29Stephanie Pope, who runs the commercial side at Boeing, is here in Dubai.

02:34I'm assuming you're going to be seeing her.

02:35Is there any chance you're going to kind of up the cadence, get more 787s a little earlier,

02:39that you'll be able to ramp up and deliver more destinations more quickly than you originally, or maybe at the moment, thought about?

02:47So, Stephanie's been a great partner. Boeing have got better at getting better.

02:51And we've got 72 Boeing 787s.

02:55But that's part of a commitment of 182 aircraft that we've made in the last two and a half years.

03:02And you're probably wondering as well why I've got a helicopter to my right with Riyadh Err on it as well.

03:08Because we'll be making an announcement here today of a partnership with the helicopter company.

03:14It's another PIF company.

03:15This is all part of a broader Err mobility strategy, which basically means going forward through our Concierge app.

03:24If you want to then come into Riyadh and perhaps pick up with a helicopter, you can see what the Riyadh Err helicopter looks like,

03:32whether it's e-viton or whether it's actually corporate jets.

03:36So, it's a broader proposition of how we'll connect all of that through the Concierge app.

03:42You're also going to have a partnership with Hilton, which we understand you're going to announce here as well.

03:45The one that everybody's waiting for is India, a partnership in India.

03:49There's been talk about Indigo being a possible partner.

03:52Where are you in terms of that relationship?

03:54So, let me go perhaps back to Hilton first.

03:56We launched our loyalty program.

03:58It's called Spear.

03:59And this is a completely new proposition.

04:03First time a commercial airline ever launched its loyalty program at the same time as it went live.

04:09And the idea of Spear is I can connect or you can connect friends and family into your Spear.

04:16You can collect and therefore share points and tier levels by just tapping your phone and passing them on within your Spear,

04:24i.e. your friends and family.

04:25We'll announce today one of many great partner members to Spear, which is Hilton.

04:32Doesn't get much better than that.

04:33But, of course, what that will mean is as a massive international hotel partner, they'll be part of the Spear program as well.

04:41India?

04:42India is absolutely key.

04:45This part of the world, it goes without saying.

04:48The Indian subcontinent is a big part of the connecting flows.

04:52We've got 10 fantastic partners at the moment.

04:56Hold that thought.

04:57India, for sure, will end up being one of them as well.

04:59Are you talking to everybody?

05:00When's it going to happen?

05:01Is it going to be this year?

05:02So, India is absolutely key.

05:05I'm not going to put an absolute time to it.

05:07But hold that thought.

05:09The 10 we've already got that we're very proud of, India will get added to that at some stage.

05:15Okay, final kind of area to discuss.

05:17We're starting to see the U.S. economy slowing.

05:20European carriers are talking about demand slowing down, certainly on the North Atlantic.

05:24Does that translate to here?

05:26What are you launching into in terms of a demand environment?

05:30So, demand in this part of the world is still very strong.

05:33I think it's important that we always watch what's going on in other geographies.

05:37But I think, you know, take this city alone.

05:40Dubai, connected into our home city, Riyadh, is probably one of the world's great thick routes.

05:46What do I mean by that?

05:48You try buying a ticket at the moment, you'll see that prices are high.

05:52Classic Keynesian economics.

05:54Demand is far higher than supply.

05:57So, we see all the fundamentals still being strong.

06:00But let's stay eyes on.

06:01You're not going to give me a date, are you, for that first commercial flight beginning of next year?

06:04January, February?

06:05February is more likely?

06:07I'm pretty confident that I'll be serving you, Guy, at 38,000 feet in the early part of next year.

06:13What does early part mean?

06:15Early part is obviously January, February and March.

06:18And I always like an early curve if I can get one.

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