Riyadh Air Won’t Fly Until 2025 But They’re Already Sponsoring European Football

by Gary Leff

Saudi Arabia announced a new airline last year, Riyadh Air. They placed an order for up to Boeing 787-9 jets for it back in March. They won’t be flying until 2025. There’s no way for a customer to buy a ticket, or even join a frequent flyer program. But they’re already sponsoring European football, inking a partnership with Spain’s Atlético de Madrid.


Credit: Riyadh Air


Credit: Riyadh Air

Riyadh Air becomes the main sponsor and official airline of the club, and their branding goes on team kits. According to Atlético de Madrid CEO Ángel Gil,

We are delighted to welcome Riyadh Air as our new main sponsor of the club. This partnership signifies a great opportunity to offer better experiences to our fans around the world and I am confident that this alliance with Riyadh Air will elevate our club to new heights.

And Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas shaes,

It is an incredibly exciting day for Riyadh Air as we enter into a long-term partnership with Atlético de Madrid, one of Europe’s greatest clubs, to become their main and official airline partner. We believe that this partnership is a perfect match, as both Riyadh Air and Atletico share a commitment to excellence and a passion for connecting people and cultures around the world. This airline created global waves when we recently launched our stunning livery and with this partnership, once again we are surprising the world as we move towards our maiden flight in 2025. We look forward to working closely with our friends at Atlético de Madrid to deliver innovative and exciting experiences for football fans and travelers.

Saudi Arabia already has a national airline, Saudia, with hubs about 500 miles apart in both Jeddah and Riyadh. I’ve not seen a good explanation for a brand new airline under the same owner, versus expanding Saudia or rebranding it and folding it into the new entity. Riyadh Air plans to fly to 100 destinations by 2030. It appears they will compete with the other government-backed carrier.

While the strategy confuses me, they’re also one of the things in aviation I’m most excited about. The big plane order, the big ambitions, and the willingness to invest big in branding even years before consumers can even act on positive brand sentiment means a strong likelihood that we can expect real quality at the outset. And a new airline, with plenty of capacity, added into the market and competing against Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar along with others – often for connections beyond the Mideast – should give consumers a lot of options at lower prices.

For now tens of millions of people will see Riyadh Air’s branding, and maybe that actually works. I’ve never been to Saudi Arabia. It’s become possible to visit. And while I’ve written about decidedly mixed views of the country, I feel like it’s a place I want to have better context for which likely means experiencing it first hand. Is it strange that the launch of Riyadh Air may be what causes me to do that?

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Enjoy your flight. As per norm in Saudi Arabia. No booze is served. So, a competitor to Emirates, Etihad and Qatar?

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