Riyadh Air, second flag carrier of Saudi Arabia has launched daily nonstop flights between Riyadh and Mumbai on August 4, opening its first scheduled route into India.

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners operate between King Khalid International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Riyadh Air designed the schedule to feed onward services across Europe and the Middle East.

Riyadh Air confirmed the inaugural departure through its social channels. “Our first flights to Mumbai have taken off,” the airline reported. Daily operations connect Saudi Arabia’s capital with India’s financial centre.

Daily schedule creates seven weekly rotations

Flight RX697 departs Riyadh at 2.05 pm and arrives in Mumbai at 8.35 pm local time. Return service RX698 departs Mumbai at 10.05 pm and lands in Riyadh at 11.50 pm.

Published timings result in outbound and inbound block times of approximately 4 hours. Seven weekly rotations give corporate, leisure and visiting passenger segments a consistent departure pattern.

Riyadh Air opened ticket sales on July 6, almost one month before operations commenced. Bookings covered Economy, Business and Business Elite cabins aboard the Boeing widebody aircraft.

Mumbai departures provide connections through Riyadh to London, Madrid, Jeddah and Cairo. Evening timings from India support transfers into the carrier’s expanding western and regional schedule.

Riyadh departures reach Mumbai before the late evening arrival bank, retaining onward domestic connection options for passengers travelling across India.

Mumbai joins an expanding route network

Mumbai follows a concentrated series of route launches during June and July 2026.

Riyadh Air began public Boeing 787-9 services to London in June. Jeddah operations started on June 14, followed by Dubai on June 18 and Cairo on June 25. Madrid received its maiden service on July 17, with Kuala Lumpur joining the network on July 31.

India gives Riyadh Air access to a large base of corporate travellers, tourists and passengers visiting relatives. Mumbai also supplies connecting demand for services beyond Riyadh.

Riyadh Air’s destination page confirms daily nonstop operations and consistent departure times. Passengers can book through the airline’s website and mobile application.

Network development centres on Riyadh as a transfer hub. Each new spoke supplies passenger feed into existing routes and raises utilisation across the airline’s delivered aircraft.

Aircraft orders prepare further capacity growth

Riyadh Air expanded its widebody orderbook during the Farnborough Airshow on July 20.

Carrier commitments cover 28 additional Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Riyadh Air plans to convert 20 aircraft into the larger 787-10 variant. Six additional Airbus A350-1000 aircraft also joined its firm orderbook, taking confirmed commitments for that type to 31.

Riyadh Air targets more than 100 destinations by 2030. Management expects the network to reach 22 cities by March 2027 as aircraft deliveries release additional slot capacity.

Public Investment Fund ownership provides capital support for fleet procurement, route activation and hub development. Mumbai contributes a daily South Asian service to that expansion programme.

Riyadh Air will use sustained booking volumes, transfer demand and aircraft utilisation to determine future Indian capacity. Daily Mumbai operations provide the carrier with an established schedule from its first day in the market.

Source: Arabian Business