Riyadh Air began daily nonstop flights between Riyadh and Mumbai on August 4, marking the airline’s entry into the Indian market less than three months after launching its first commercial services.
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners operate the route between King Khalid International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
Flight RX697 departs Riyadh at 2.05 pm, arriving Mumbai at 8.35 pm local time. The return, RX698, leaves Mumbai at 10.05 pm and lands in Riyadh at 11.50 pm. Block times run at approximately four hours each way. The airline announced the launch on its social channels, posting: “Our first flights to Mumbai have taken off.”
Ticket sales opened on July 6, covering Economy, Business and Business Elite cabins. The schedule is designed to support connections in both directions: Mumbai passengers can transfer through Riyadh to London, Madrid, Jeddah and Cairo, while Riyadh departures reach Mumbai in time for domestic onward connections across India.
Widebody deployment also frees up belly-hold capacity for cargo between the two commercial centres. Pharmaceutical products, electronics and e-commerce shipments are typical traffic on the corridor, though Riyadh Air has not disclosed load factors or cargo tonnage for the route.
Mumbai arrives after a rapid burst of launches since June 2026. Riyadh Air began 787-9 services to London that month, followed by Jeddah on June 14, Dubai on June 18 and Cairo on June 25. Madrid received its first service on July 17, and Kuala Lumpur joined the network on July 31.
The airline expanded its orderbook at the Farnborough Airshow on July 20, adding commitments for 28 more Boeing 787 Dreamliners, of which 20 are planned as the larger 787-10 variant.
Six additional Airbus A350-1000 aircraft also joined its firm orderbook, taking confirmed A350 commitments to 31. The carrier had accepted six 787-9s by the time of that announcement.
Riyadh Air is targeting more than 100 destinations by 2030, with management expecting 22 cities on the network by March 2027 as further aircraft deliveries come through. The airline is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
