Saudi Arabia’s second flag carrier made headlines last month when it embarked on its first flight. A 787 took off from Riyadh, touching down at London Heathrow at sunrise. With funding secured, the carrier is now looking at global expansion, hoping to cover 100 destinations by 2030. Part of this expansion will come from the carrier’s order for Airbus A350-1000 widebody jets, set to be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines.

The order, made at Paris Air Show, includes an even split of firm commitments and options, and it will be fascinating to see how many of these options are taken over the next several years. In this article, learn more about the order and what it will mean for Riyadh Air, Airbus and Rolls-Royce. We then cover where they might fly and more on the carrier’s first flights, making use of a second-hand 787 Dreamliner.

What Aircraft Are In The Order?

In June 2025, Riyadh Air put in an order for 50 Airbus A350-1000 widebody aircraft at the Paris Air Show. It was completed at a signing ceremony at Paris Le Bourget today, by Riyadh Air Chief Financial Officer Adam Boukadida and Airbus EVP Sales of Commercial Aircraft Business, Benoît de Saint-Exupéry. Also present was PIF Governor and Riyadh Air Chairman His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan, CEO of Riyadh Air Tony Douglas and CEO of Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Christian Scherer.

It entails 25 firm commitments and 25 options, which would bring the new Saudi Arabian carrier’s fleet up to 182 aircraft, should all the options be filled. Tony Douglas, the carrier’s CEO, said: « Riyadh Air is making significant progress as we move towards our first flight later this year and agreeing this deal for up to 50 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft is an important statement of intent. »

Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, Airbus EVP Sales of the Commercial Aircraft business, was also optimistic about how the order could help Riyadh Air’s development and build a partnership between the carrier and Airbus. He said: « We are proud to extend our strategic partnership with Riyadh Air as it continues to build a pioneering carrier for the Kingdom. As the long-range leader, the A350-1000 will provide unrivalled efficiency, range and passenger comfort, making it the ideal choice to support the airline’s ambitious growth plans. »

The order also connects Riyadh Air to Sustainable Aviation Fuel, as the A350-1000, like all modern Airbus jets, can operate with a 50% SAF blend. This would seem to be a contradiction to Saudi Arabia’s oil-based economy, which produced 12.4 million barrels of oil per day in 2024. It will be interesting to see if the carrier uses its new jets SAF capabilities or sticks with locally sourced oil-based aviation fuel.

The Jets Will Be Rolls-Royce Powered

The order from Riyadh Air is also a boost for Rolls-Royce as the jets will be powered by Trent XWB-97 engines. The British manufacturer, therefore, adds at least 50 engines to its order sheet, raising it to 100 if the options become commitments. Rob Watson, President, Civil Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, said:

« We’re looking forward to supporting the significant growth ambitions of Riyadh Air in its launch year. The Trent XWB-97 is an incredible engine and our TotalCare package will provide operational certainty across the fleet. The engine will benefit from the £1bn investment we’re making to the Trent engine family that improves their durability and efficiency across all operations. We look forward to supporting these new aircraft as they enter service.”

The table below includes specifications for the Trent XWB-97 engine according to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type-certificate data sheet:

The agreement goes beyond simply providing the Trent XWB engines. Rolls-Royce and the airline have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that commits the manufacturer to provide its comprehensive TotalCare service to keep the engines in working order.

What Is Riyadh Air?

Riyadh Air is a new Saudi Arabian flag carrier founded by Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The carrier’s hub is at King Khalid International Airport, and it aims to find its place on the global market. The fleet consists of Airbus A321neo narrowbody aircraft, and Airbus A350-100 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner widebody aircraft. As with many Saudi infrastructure projects, the carrier is owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). At the carrier’s head is CEO Tony Douglas, who was previously CEO of Etihad Airways from 2018 to 2022.

It has ties to both SkyTeam and Star Alliance through a host of cooperation agreements, including with China Eastern Airlines, Saudi, Virgin Atlantic, Turkish Airlines and Singapore Airlines. Its current non-Saudi destination is London Heathrow. His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF Governor and Chairman of Riyadh Air, described the importance of the carrier to the Saudi economy: « Our new national carrier is set to take to the skies in the near future, and as a fundamental element of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure, will connect our capital city to over 100 international destinations around the globe by 2030. »

Riyadh Air could form a significant part of the Middle Eastern nation’s non-oil economy, which it will surely have to transition towards amid climate change and the inevitable exhaustion of reserves. It is predicted that the carrier will eventually add $20 billion to the nation’s GDP and provide 200,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Where Will Riyadh Air’s A350s Fly?

There have been no significant announcements of specific A350-1000 routes for Saudi Arabia’s new flag carrier. However, we can assume, due to the aircraft’s range and capacity, that the jet will fly to destinations in Asia and Europe. The carrier’s first flights are planned to fly from Riyadh to European cities like London. They will then fly back to an alternative Saudi destination. An example could be Riyadh, as the A350 will then return to Riyadh to restart the cycle.

The clear limitation of Riyadh Air’s network will be its fleet size while it waits for deliveries to be fulfilled. There have been no announcements of when the A350s will start to arrive, but we can assume they won’t come for a few years. By this time, the network should be well established.

Riyadh Air expects to receive a new aircraft every month, which it will use to serve two new destinations each month. By 2030, the carrier expects to serve the major capital cities in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. While the network grows, its host of strategic partnerships, including code-sharing agreements, will facilitate further expansion.

Riyadh Air Takes To The Skies

Following delays in the carrier’s 787 deliveries, which pushed the first flight back, Riyadh Air has now taken to the skies. In October 2026, it flew its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, taking off from Riyadh at 3.26 am, and touching down at London Heathrow at 7.14 am. The flight made use of HZ-RXX, named Jamila, which was the carrier’s only aircraft. The jet had previously been owned by Oman Air. This flight opened up the route to London Heathrow and it was not bookable by the public.

Instead, it carried an unknown number of the carrier and PIF’s employees. These early flights aren’t about making money, but about securing and maintaining competitive slots at London Heathrow. Tony Douglas, Riyadh’s CEO, explained the reasoning for such a limited launch: « If you go big bang on day one and assume everything will work perfectly on the first day, well, the reality is it won’t. So we will use that short period to trial everything and make sure the feedback gives us the opportunity to polish every last little detail before I actually sell a ticket to you. »

The route to London Heathrow is set to become one of Riyadh Air’s most frequent and important routes. Once its 787s start arriving, four by the end of 2025, the carrier should operate the route daily. This may increase further once the A350s start to arrive, although that will be dependent on the carrier securing additional slots.

It is unsurprising that the 787, rather than the A350, flew the carrier’s first route. Riyadh Air has a larger order for the Dreamliner at 39 firm commitments and 33 options. More Boeing 787s should arrive soon, as its first purpose-built custom 787 rolled out of the paint shop in September and a second was finished soon after.