Riyadh Air Comes to Pakistan
Riyadh Air Comes to Pakistan: What It Means for Travellers
Published August 2026. Schedules, fares and aircraft assignments change constantly — call us on +92 51 5194556-7 for the position on the day you book.
Saudi Arabia’s new flag-adjacent carrier, Riyadh Air, has begun flying to Pakistan. Daily service between Riyadh and Islamabad started on 14 August 2026, when flight RX-660 touched down at Islamabad International Airport. Five days later, on 19 August 2026, flight RX-676 landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport to open a three-times-weekly Lahore route. The Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan attended the Lahore launch alongside Pakistan Airports Authority officials.
For anyone flying between Pakistan and the Kingdom — and for a great many people connecting beyond it — this is the most interesting thing to happen on the route in years. Here is a practical read on what it changes.
Who Riyadh Air Actually Is
Riyadh Air is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and was launched in 2023 as a second national carrier alongside Saudia, built around Riyadh as a connecting hub rather than Jeddah. It carries the IATA code RX and flew its first commercial service in October 2025. The stated ambition is to serve around 100 destinations by 2030, which is why the network has expanded so quickly through 2026 — Kuala Lumpur in July, Mumbai in early August, Pakistan mid-August, Bangkok from September.
The important point for travellers is that this is a genuinely new airline with new aircraft, not a rebranding of something older. Pakistan routes are being flown by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners configured in four cabins: Business Elite, Business, Premium Economy and Economy.
What Changes for Pakistani Travellers
A four-cabin widebody on a route that rarely sees one. Premium Economy in particular is uncommon on Pakistan–Gulf sectors. If you have been buying full Business simply because there was nothing between it and a tight Economy seat, there is now a middle option worth pricing.
A second serious hub for onward connections. Pakistan–Europe and Pakistan–North America traffic has long routed through Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi or Istanbul. Riyadh becomes a fourth realistic option. Whether it is the right option depends entirely on your final destination and the connection time on the day — a hub is only useful if the onward flight is well timed.
Competitive pressure on fares. A new entrant on a busy corridor usually softens pricing across every carrier serving it, especially in the shoulder months. It rarely happens immediately, and it rarely applies to peak Umrah and holiday periods, but over a full year it tends to show.
More capacity for Umrah travel. Riyadh is not Jeddah, and pilgrims should be clear-eyed about that: a Riyadh routing means a domestic connection or a long ground transfer to reach Makkah or Madinah. For some itineraries the total journey still works out well. For many it will not. This is worth checking properly rather than assuming.
What We Would Tell a Client Booking It Today
New airlines take time to settle. Schedules on a route a few weeks old are more likely to be retimed than one flown for a decade, and a retiming that is harmless on a point-to-point trip can break a tight onward connection. If your itinerary depends on a connection, build in more buffer than you normally would, and book the whole journey on one ticket wherever possible so that a delay on the first leg remains the airline’s problem rather than yours.
Check the baggage allowance against what you are used to. Gulf carriers differ from one another more than travellers expect, and the cheapest fare bucket on any airline is usually the one with the tightest rules on changes, refunds and bags.
If you hold a visa for onward travel, confirm that a transit through Riyadh suits it. Transit requirements are set by the country you are entering, not by the airline, and they differ by nationality.
Booking Riyadh Air Through Sky Travel & Tours
As an IATA accredited agency we can ticket Riyadh Air directly, which means your ticket sits with the airline in your name from the moment it is issued. If a schedule moves, we can act on the booking ourselves rather than sending you to a call centre.
We will also tell you honestly when a different carrier suits your route better. A new airline is worth knowing about; it is not automatically the right answer for every journey. Call +92 51 5194556-7, message us on WhatsApp at +92 344 1111321, or visit the office at Faizan Arcade, Plot 1316, Block-C, NPF O-9, Main PWD Road, Islamabad.
Route, schedule and cabin details reflect the airline’s launch announcements of August 2026 and public reporting at that time. Airlines change schedules without notice. Confirm current details before booking.