By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Riyadh Air, the Saudi Arabian national carrier launched under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic program, began commercial service to Pakistan on Friday, landing its inaugural flight in Islamabad as the airline works toward a goal of serving more than 100 destinations by 2030.
Flight RX-660 touched down at Islamabad International Airport on Friday evening carrying 69 passengers from Riyadh, according to a statement from the Pakistan Airports Authority. Ground crews marked the arrival with a ceremonial water-cannon salute as the aircraft taxied to the terminal.
The airline, wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, will operate seven flights weekly on the route, the PAA said. The flight returned to Riyadh the same evening carrying 272 passengers, departing at 9:56 p.m. local time.
The route opening gives Riyadh Air access to one of the busiest travel corridors in the region. Saudi Arabia hosts more than two million Pakistani nationals, and remittances from workers in the Kingdom rank among the largest sources of foreign income for Pakistan’s economy. The new service adds capacity for labor migrants, business travelers and religious pilgrims traveling between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, served as chief guest at an inauguration ceremony held at the airport following the flight’s arrival. The ambassador said the new service would help strengthen air links and broader ties between the two countries, according to the PAA statement. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment on its Pakistan expansion plans.
Air Vice Marshal Zeeshan Saeed, director general of the PAA, also spoke at the ceremony, which included ribbon-cutting and cake-cutting segments. Saeed said the new route would improve connectivity and passenger movement while supporting cooperation between the two countries’ aviation sectors, the authority said. Senior Riyadh Air executives attended and discussed the carrier’s growth plans for the Pakistani market, according to the PAA.
Riyadh Air launched commercial operations in 2025 as part of a broader Saudi push to build out aviation infrastructure and position the Kingdom as a global travel hub, a strategy that also includes an expansion of Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. The carrier joins Saudia, the Kingdom’s flag carrier, in serving the Pakistan market, which has drawn increased competition from Gulf carriers competing for both origin-and-destination traffic and passengers connecting through the region to Europe, Asia and beyond.
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