Riyadh Air Adds Manila, Manchester and Milan to 787 Network

Riyadh Air has kept widening the map of Saudi Arabia’s newest flag carrier, opening two routes in September and announcing a third for December, all flown with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

September Launches

The airline started Riyadh-Manila on 9 September with daily Boeing 787-9 service to Ninoy Aquino International Airport. That followed Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, which began on 2 September with three flights a week.

On 19 September Riyadh Air began three-weekly flights to Manchester, according to Aviation Week’s route tracking. Manchester is its second UK destination after London Heathrow, which opened in June.

Milan and More Heathrow

On 22 September the carrier announced four flights a week to Milan Malpensa from 16 December. Separately, listings for the week of 28 September show London Heathrow rising to nine flights a week from 2 November.

Manila is the only one of the new routes at daily frequency, while Bangkok, Manchester and Milan start at three or four a week.

A Young Carrier Building a Network

Riyadh Air began commercial operations earlier in 2026, and the 787-9 is the type behind every route above. It started flying to London Heathrow in June, so the September additions take it from a single European gateway to a network spanning the UK, Italy, Thailand and the Philippines.

The Heathrow increase is the clearest signal of where demand has proved strongest so far: the capital’s service is being lifted to nine flights a week only a few months after launch.

Wider Gulf Schedule Shifts

Aviation Week’s roundup also recorded schedule changes elsewhere in the region. Cathay Pacific extended its suspension of Dubai and Riyadh flights through 31 January 2027, and Condor said it would suspend Berlin and Stuttgart to Dubai for winter 2026-27.

Riyadh Air has not published passenger numbers or load factors for the new routes. The next signals will come from whether it keeps adding frequencies, as at Heathrow, or whether new destinations stay at the three-weekly level seen at Bangkok and Manchester.