Riyadh Air Places Order for 34 Widebody Aircraft

Riyadh Air Just Placed Its First Major Farnborough Order, Six Weeks After Flying Its First Paying Passenger

Riyadh Air opened the Farnborough International Airshow on July 20, 2026 by firming up orders for 34 additional widebody aircraft, 28 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and six Airbus A350-1000s, bringing its total firm 787 commitment to 67 aircraft and its confirmed A350-1000 count to 31. The airline launched scheduled passenger services on June 10, 2026. It has been flying for six weeks.

The speed at which Riyadh Air is building its orderbook is unlike anything in modern airline history.

The 787-10 Decision That Changes the Fleet Plan

When Riyadh Air was launched in March 2023, it ordered 39 firm Boeing 787-9s and took options on 33 more. The Farnborough announcement converts 28 of those options to firm orders, but with a critical modification. Twenty of the 28 newly firmed aircraft have been switched from the 787-9 to the larger 787-10, the stretched variant that carries roughly 50 more passengers per flight but flies approximately 1,200 nautical miles less range than the 787-9.

That trade-off tells you something important about how Riyadh Air is now thinking about its network. The 787-9 was chosen in 2023 for maximum flexibility on a route map that did not yet exist. The conversion to 787-10s in 2026 suggests the airline has now identified where its highest-volume flying will be, routes dense enough to need the extra seats and short enough that the reduced range is not a constraint. High-frequency, high-density corridors to Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and East Africa are the natural fit for the 787-10 in the Gulf market.

There is also a hidden number inside today's announcement. The deal reveals a previously undisclosed purchase of 11 additional 787s that had not appeared in any prior order tally, meaning Riyadh Air had already committed to more aircraft than the market knew about.

The A350-1000 Side of the Equation

The six additional A350-1000s bring Riyadh Air's firm commitment for the type to 31 aircraft, exercised from an original agreement covering up to 50. The A350-1000 serves a different role in the fleet, ultra-long-range, high-capacity flying where the 787-10's shorter legs would be a limitation. Routes connecting Riyadh to cities like Tokyo, New York, Sydney or Buenos Aires are where the A350-1000 earns its place. Riyadh Air is building a two-type widebody fleet where each aircraft type has a defined mission, rather than a single-type operation that compromises on range or capacity depending on the route.

What 67 Firm 787s Actually Means

To put 67 firm Boeing 787s in context: Qantas has 75 787s across its entire fleet including all variants built up over more than a decade of deliveries. Riyadh Air is ordering 67 firm Dreamliners before it has served its first full summer schedule.

CEO Tony Douglas framed it simply, the 787-10 order marks another significant milestone toward over 100 international destinations by 2030. Saudi Arabia's National Aviation Strategy targets 330 million annual passengers, 4.5 million tonnes of air cargo capacity, and 250 destinations by the same year. Every Riyadh Air order is one layer of infrastructure beneath that national target, and at Farnborough today, the airline made clear it is not slowing down to let the ambition catch up with the aircraft.