Riyadh Air New Routes: Mumbai, Dhaka and Pakistan in August Push

Cover image: a Riyadh Air Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in the carrier's indigo livery — photo by Mztourist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Riyadh Air has added four South Asian cities in a single month. Saudi Arabia's PIF-backed startup carrier launched daily Boeing 787-9 flights from Riyadh to Mumbai on 4 August and Dhaka on 7 August, followed by daily Islamabad service from 14 August and three-times-weekly flights to Lahore from mid-August. The sweep takes the airline's network to nine destinations barely ten weeks after its first commercial flight — and squarely targets the huge worker, pilgrim and business flows between the Gulf and the subcontinent that Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad have long dominated. Chief executive Tony Douglas has said the carrier will serve 22 destinations by March 2027 and more than 100 cities by 2030.

Where does Riyadh Air fly now?

The airline's commercial story is short and steep. Its first revenue flight left for London Heathrow on 10 June 2026 — covered in our report on Riyadh Air's Heathrow launch — with Dubai following on 18 June and Cairo, now double-daily, from 25 June. August's additions shift the centre of gravity east.

Why is Riyadh Air targeting India, Pakistan and Bangladesh first?

Because that is where the traffic is. South Asia supplies millions of workers, Umrah and Hajj pilgrims and family-visit travellers to Saudi Arabia every year, giving a new carrier instant point-to-point demand rather than relying on connecting passengers it has yet to win. All flights operate with Boeing 787-9s, whose belly holds also add meaningful cargo capacity on trade lanes into Mumbai — a quiet but material revenue stream for a startup.

The network push is a pillar of the kingdom's economic diversification drive, which aims to lift aviation and tourism's share of GDP sharply by the end of the decade — the wider programme we analysed in Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 tourism and aviation push.

What routes come next for Riyadh Air?

Filed schedules for the 2026 summer season point to a first-phase network of around 15 cities including Paris, Madrid, Manchester, Amman, Jeddah, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Manila, with the airline scaling toward Douglas's 22-destination target by March 2027. Fleet deliveries are the pacing item: the carrier has 39 Boeing 787-9s on firm order plus options, and every arriving airframe unlocks another route. Its expansion also lands in a Gulf market still rebalancing after 2026's repeated airspace closures, a dynamic we tracked in how Gulf airlines rebounded from airspace disruption.

Can Riyadh Air compete with Emirates and Qatar Airways?

Not on network breadth — not yet, and not for years. What the startup is selling instead is a premium hard product on brand-new aircraft, a Riyadh hub with far less connecting congestion than Dubai or Doha, and O&D demand into Saudi Arabia itself, which is growing faster than transfer traffic thanks to religious travel, giga-project construction and a government target of 150 million annual visits by 2030. The subcontinent routes are the clearest test: they are among the most price-sensitive markets in aviation, dominated by the Gulf majors' one-stop offers. If Riyadh Air can fill daily 787s on nonstop point-to-point schedules there, the rest of the network plan gets much easier to believe.

Frequently asked questions

How many destinations does Riyadh Air serve?

Nine as of mid-August 2026, following the launches of Mumbai, Dhaka, Islamabad and Lahore. The airline plans 22 destinations by March 2027 and over 100 by 2030.

What aircraft does Riyadh Air fly?

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in a two-class layout, with 39 on firm order. A narrowbody order for the Airbus A321neo family adds shorter-haul capacity later in the decade.

Does Riyadh Air fly to India?

Yes — daily Riyadh–Mumbai flights began on 4 August 2026, the airline's first Indian destination, with the 787-9's belly cargo capacity serving India–Saudi trade as well.

Is Riyadh Air part of Saudia?

No. Riyadh Air is a separate startup owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), built as a premium Riyadh-hub carrier alongside Jeddah-based Saudia rather than replacing it.

Sources

• Aviation Week — 50 new routes launching in August 2026
• Aviation A2Z — Riyadh Air begins new 787 flights to Mumbai
• Aviation A2Z — Riyadh Air launches new flights to Islamabad, expands Pakistan network
• CAPA Centre for Aviation — Riyadh Air commences Riyadh–Mumbai service
• AeroRoutes — Riyadh Air NS26 preliminary network